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.

Hate Crimes

Many things have changed over the past year, some for the good, while others are still changing for the worse. We live in an age where people are starting to be more accepting, and great “change” is happening, but if things are all supposed to change for the better, then why are the hate crimes against gays and religious groups steadily increasing?
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased 11% and hate crimes based on religion have increased 9%. Just recently, Congress added anti-gay and anti-gender related offenses to the list of hate crimes, which is a major victory for the United States gay community.
More than half of all hate crimes are religious based and over 2/3 of those malicious crimes are directed towards Jews.
Among all categories of hate crimes, about one third are vandalism or property damage, while 30 percent involve intimidation of any kind, and another 30 percent were physical attacks.
Our society has become extremely racist towards Muslims since 9/11, and now that the United States has an African American as president, racial oriented groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Council of Conservative Citizens have seen a dramatic increase of interests from possible new members.
Why is this world so focused on shunning those away that are different? Why must people act upon impulse and hate others that don’t believe in the same things they do. Why should gays have any less rights than straight people? Are they really that different than us? People should get to know the person before committing malicious and demeaning hate crimes against them, chances are they have never done anything to personally hurt you, so why hurt them?

AIDS

AIDS is a disease that infects more than 1.2 million and kills 23,000 North Americans in 2007 alone. Africa has the world’s largest population of AIDS infected people, more than 22.0 million people suffer from this horrible disease and 1.5 million people die from this horrible disease. The first case of AIDS in the United States was reported in June of 1981 and since then every 9½ minutes, someone in our own country is infected with HIV.
AIDS is the final and most serious stage of HIV, HIV is a virus that attacks and weakens the immune system. AIDS stands for 'acquired immune deficiency syndrome' and stems from the infection of HIV. Once someone is diagnosed with HIV they wait until they develop AIDS can be either a very short time or up to 15 years.
President Obama’s Fiscal Year says that the government will give an estimated $25.8 billion for combined domestic and global HIV/AIDS activities. Federal funding for this disease has increased greatly throughout the epidemic and the disease is getting the attention it needs through many organizations and sponsorships such as the Gap brand (Product) RED. Since (Product) RED started a few years ago they have raised over $22 million to help fight HIV and AIDS by buying iPods, T-shirts, watches, cologne, and other various branded items. RED contributions have built more than 33 testing and treatment centers and have given enough medicine to help thousands of people. Helping fight this disease is easier than ever by simply buying the (Product) RED iPod rather than the blue one or buying an inexpensive tee-shirt. By doing these you will save lives and help make a difference in the world.

Pakistan Suicide Bombers

On October 20th, suicide bombers attacked an Islamic university filled with foreign exchange students in Pakistan's capital. The bombers ruthlessly killed four students. It is apparent that the killing was done as retaliation on the Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold near the Afghan border. The bomb hit in a cafeteria at the International Islamic University and 30 seconds later, they attacked an academic building. In addition to the four people who were murdered by the bombers, 22 people were wounded and reports say that the two attackers were also killed. Authorities said they believed it was the work of revolutionaries in the northwest.
These are not the first suicide bombings and attacks against the Taliban. Terrorism is all over Pakistan, militants have killed over 175 people in a sequence of commando-style raids and suicide bombings. On October 5th, Five UN World Food Program workers were killed during a suicide bombing by a man dressed in military uniform. Four days later, on October 9th, a suicide car bomber killed 52 people and wounded more than 100 civilians in a crowded city. There have been many other attacks in Pakistan, in the month of October alone hundreds of people have been murdered in suicide bombings.

New Navy Ship Honors 9/11 Victims

The USS New York, the newest navy ship, has been docked in New York City through Veterans Day then it will head back to base in Norfolk, Virginia. The $1 billon ship is made with 7.5 tons of steel derived from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The USS New York has a crew of 360 people and its main mission is to carry Marines and is able carry an entire battalion and their equipment which includes a 38-ton amphibious assault vehicle, landing craft and an MV-22 Osprey aircraft. This ship weighs over 25,000 tons and is as lenghty as two football fields. Etched onto the crest of the ship are the words “Never Forget” along with a phoenix rising from the twin towers. The ship set sail past the World Trade Center on Monday and thousands of New Yorkers including firefighters and police officers who responded to the attack were welcomed aboard. Many family members of 9/11 victims gathered to witness the beautiful ship dock and it was truly an emotional sight to witness.

Avenue Q Review

The Tony Award winning musical Avenue Q has been traveling around the United States on their national tour and has recently made their stop in Providence, Rhode Island this past October. Avenue Q is based around Princeton, a college graduate who moves to the big apple, New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account. He soon learns that the only neighborhood within his price range is the run down neighborhood of Avenue Q. Princeton makes friends with his quirky and different neighbors and with them he tries to find his purpose in life.
Avenue Q has been on Broadway at the Golden Theatre since July 11th, 2003 and performed their final Broadway performance on September 13, 2009. The musical is now being performed at the Off Broadway theatre, New World Stages. Avenue Q is a truly hilarious musical, though despite the fuzzy, Sesame Street-esque characters the show discuses mature content and is not recommended for children.

Young Frankenstein

The award winning musical "Young Frankenstein" kicked off its national tour this past September in Providence, Rhode Island. "Young Frankenstein" is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. After being on Broadway since November 2007 the production closed January 4th, 2009. This is a fantastic show, with 21 songs, and tons of hilarious jokes with great punch lines.The show beings with the villagers of Transylvania Heights celebrating the death of the not-so-loved Victor Frankenstein, news of his passing eventually gets back to America to Victors grandson Frederick Frankenstein. He then comes to Transylvania Heights and is urged to "Join the Family Business". After protesting to the Frankenstein castle's loyal servant Igor that he does not want to create terrifying monsters from scratch, he eventually learns how his grandfather did it and is intrigued and attempts to make one himself. The monster he creates is awoken and rampages through the town and after many attempts of teaching him right from wrong and how to speak, The Monster, Frederick, Igor and Fredericks assistant Inga put on a show to the towns people to prove that The Monster is indeed good and intelligent. The monster then becomes frightened by the lights in the show, he once again rampages and kidnaps Frederick’s fiancée Elizabeth, and surprisingly the pair of them fall in love. This was a great musical and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good laugh along with music, dancing and singing.

California

When one thinks of California, sunshine, beaches, glitz, glamour and money instantly come to mind. Though California may be the 8th largest economy in the world, its unemployment rate has been at its highest point in the past 70 years and the government is issuing many IOU’s. Frantic to pay off their budget deficit, the state is cutting spending in education and health care, and is being forced to lay off an enormous number of workers. The state has kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. The "Golden State" is now 24 billion dollars short of balencing their books and within weeks the state may run of out money even to pay for the most basic of bills. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s two-termed governor is now being viewed as a failure and his ratings have sinked very low. His plan to regain lost dollars is to continue cuting government spending, which will cut many programs to the poor. Millions of Californians will lose thier welfare and health care benefits and many prisons will be shut down causing non-violent criminals to be let back onto the streets. We will all have to wait and see if California can pull its self out of their deficit.

Fame remake

The 2009 remake of the classic movie "Fame" was realeased on September 25th, while many awaited for the premeire and enjoyed the movie, the original director wasn't to thrilled with it. In a recent interview, the current director of the remake, Kevin TancHareon, claimed he had asked the original director, Sir Alan Parker, about remaking the fim. He said they had "called him to tell him that they were going to remake his movie, and he was happy about it. He gave us all his blessings and just let us do it."
Apparently, this isn't true. Sir Alan Parker reported in an interview that "I have never had a single prone call from anyone - the studio, the producers - about this remake. No-one spoke to me about it...I feel very much that Fame is mine. I spent months with the kids at the school then spent a year making the movie. You do the work and make it as good as it can be, and you try to protect it. …Then, because the copyright is owned by the studio, as with almost all American feature films, they can do a remake like this. It's extremely galling. There is no other area of the arts where you can do that. …It's a bit like being mugged. Such are the realities of Hollywood manners and American copyright law."
Sir Alan Parker is considering legal action over MGM's use of the "Fame" logo, which is the only thing the studio dosen't have the rights to.

Young Frankenstein Review

The award winning musical "Young Frankenstein" kicked off its national tour this past September in Providence, Rhode Island. "Young Frankenstein" is based on The 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. After being on Broadway since November 2007 the production closed January 4th, 2009.
This is a fantastic show, with 21 songs, and tons of hilarious jokes with great punchlines.
The show beings with the villager of Transylvania Heights celebrating the death of the not-so-loved Victor Frankenstein, news eventually gets back to America to Victors grandson Frederick Frankenstein, he then comes to Transylvania Heights and is urged to "Join the Family Buisness". After protesting to the Frankenstein castle's loyal servent Igor that he does not want to create terrifying monsters from scratch, he evenutally learns how his grandfather did it and attempts to make one himself. The monster he creates is awoken and rampages through the town and after many attemps of teaching him right from wrong and how to speak, The Monster, Frederick, Igor and Fredericks assistant Inga put on a show to the towns people to prove that The Monster is indeed good and intelligent. The monster then becomes frightened by the lights in the show, he once again rampages and kidnaps Fredericks finance Elizabeth, and surprisingly the pair of them fall in love. Frederick then attempts to create a brain transfer between the monster and himself, and it works, the monster becomes fully intelligent.
This was a great musical and I would definatly recomend it to anyone who loves a good laugh along with music, dancing and singing.

Fame remake

The 2009 remake of the classic movie "Fame" was realeased on September 25th, while many awaited for the premeire and enjoyed the movie, the original director wasn't to thrilled with it. In a recent interview, the current director of the remake, Kevin TancHareon, claimed he had asked the original director, Sir Alan Parker, about remaking the fim. He said they had "called him to tell him that they were going to remake his movie, and he was happy about it. He gave us all his blessings and just let us do it."

Apparently, this isn't true. Sir Alan Parker reported in an interview that "I have never had a single prone call from anyone - the studio, the producers - about this remake. No-one spoke to me about it...I feel very much that Fame is mine. I spent months with the kids at the school then spent a year making the movie. You do the work and make it as good as it can be, and you try to protect it. …Then, because the copyright is owned by the studio, as with almost all American feature films, they can do a remake like this. It's extremely galling. There is no other area of the arts where you can do that. …
It's a bit like being mugged. Such are the realities of Hollywood manners and American copyright law."

Sir Alan Parker is considering legal action over MGM's use of the "Fame" logo, which is the only thing the studio dosen't have the rights to.

California- Americas first failed state.

When one thinks of California, sunshine, beaches, glitz, glamour and money instantly come to mind. Though California may be the 8^th largest economy in the world, its unemployment rate has been at its highest point in the past 70 years and the government is issuing many IOU’s. Frantic to pay off their budget deficit, the state is cutting spending in education and health care, and is being forced to lay off an enormous number of workers. The state has kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. The "Golden State" is now 24 billion dollars short of balencing their books and within weeks the state may run of out money even to pay for the most basic of bills.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s two-termed governor is now being viewed as a failure and his ratings have sinked very low. His plan to regain lost dollars to to continue cuting government spending, which will cut many programs to the poor. Millions of Californians will lose thier welfare and health care benefits and many prisons will be shut down causing non-violent criminals to be let back onto the streets. We will all have to wait and see if California can pull its self out of their deficit.

Ex-Manson cult “family member”, Susan Denise Atkins passed away

• Who? Manson family member, Susan Denise Atkins.
• What? She died. She participated with other Manson family members 8 murders in 2 days in Los Angeles. (famous for Tate/Labianca muders)
• Where? She died on September 25th at 2:46 A.M at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.
• Why? She had suffered from brain cancer since 2008.
• How? She was said to have had a peaceful death.

Ex-Manson cult “family member”, Susan Denise Atkins passed away early on September 25th after a treacherous battle with brain cancer but was said to have had a peaceful death. She passed away at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. She was imprisoned for participating with the “Manson Family” in 8 murders over a 2 day period in the Los Angeles area at the tender age of 21. Atkins was most notoriously known for the Tate/Labianca murders.
The cult brutally killed actress Sharon Tate (and some of her friends) in 1969. Tate was married to director Roman Polanski and she was also eight months pregnant at the time. After Tate repetitively begged for her unborn baby’s life, Atkins told her "I don't care about you. I don't care if you are having a baby. You are going to die and I don't feel a thing about it." The blood of Sharon Tate was then used to write the word “pig” on her front door.
The next day supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were also stabbed and murdered by the Manson cult, and the word “war” was carved onto Leno’s stomach. Similar to Tate’s murder "Death to pigs" and "Rise" were written on a wall in their home, and "Helter Skelter" was scribbled on the refrigerator.

"Is freelancing right for you?"

What are the advantages and disadvantages of working independently?

There are many advantages of working independently, you have no deadlines, no boss yelling at you,there arn't many rules to abide, and most of the time you can write what,where, and when you want. On the other hand there are many disadvantages such as not having a set salary, no one telling you what to write (which can be good or bad, bad if you have no idea what to write about, good if you know what you want to write) and quite frankly, you're your own boss.



How does your occupation/ position/ or status affect your potential opportunities or career direction?





How does the frequency or infrequency of payment from freelancing affect the budget of a writer?

When you are a freelancer, you usually don't get paid a set salary every week and you don't get paid by the hour; you get paid by the word. In some cases you can make hundreds of dollars per article, but how often do you get to write an article? A freelance writer can go a month without any writing jobs, a whole month without receiving any money. In some cases you don't receive your pay until your article gets published, which could be months from the time you wrote it. If you're a part time freelancer with another job on the side, you're set to make some extra cash. If you're only job is being a freelance writer, make sure you have jobs set up for you.



How do flexibility, organization, and discipline affect a freelancer’scapacity to research, generate and produce quality work?

When you're a freelance writer, you have to make your own scedual, there are no 9-5's in the freelancing industry. If you want/need to interview someone, you have to arrange it to fit into their scedual, not yours. You also may have a huge article due next friday, but then all of a sudon the editor calls you and tells you that he needs to have it in by tomorrow at noon. The life of a freelancer is crazy, unpredictible and spontanious. You need to be able to do whatever, whenever.



How does one’s expertise or ignorance affect a freelancer’s choice of assignment?

Everyone has their own niche, something they're good at or in the freelance industry, something the person writes about best and most frequently. In the life of a freelancer having a niche can be a good thing or a bad thing. If your an expert on writing about sports and your editor needs you to write an article about The Grammy's what are you going to do? You need to be open to everything around you and be flexible about what you want to write about. There are no garentees in writing and rejection is always a possiblilty. Yes, being great at writing on a certain thing can be great, but you need to be open and flexible to writing about new things.



Should you say no to an assignment? Why or When (at what point)?

Saying no to an assingment, like everything, has its advantages and disadvantages. There are times when you say yes to every assignment and your work eventually is piled up and you wind up scrambling to finish it on time. Sometimes though, everything will pan out and all the assingments you accepted will get done on time and done well. You really need to know your limits when you're a freelancer and know how much you can do at one time.

URLs

CNN
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Capital News
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Fox News
Projo
BBC
NY Times
WPRI
Turn To Ten
WGBH
Fox
US News
ABC
NBC
CBS
ITN
Mother Jones
Reuters
Huffington Post
Newseum
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Five Ws (and one H)

1. New Moon

• (Who) Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson star once again as Bella Swan and Edward Cullen joined by Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black.
• (What) The second installment of The Twilight Saga.
• (When) Release date: November 20th, 2009, "Twihards" are already preparing for the premiere event.
• (Where) Tickets in select theatre across the U.S are already on sale.
• (Why) The series needed to be continued
  (How) New Moon has been in production for months and its realease has been anticipated for years.

2. Representative Joe Wilson

• (Who) South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson
• (What) A rude and boorish comment made during President Obama's speech
• (Where) President Obama's health care speech
• (When) September 9th, 2009
• (Why) He didn't agree with the President's statement
• (How)

3. New iPod Nano

• (Who) Apple is releasing their new (5th generation) Ipod Nano
• (What) New ipod equipped with a video camera, FM radio, microphone, speaker and even a pedometer. The Nano is $149 for the 8GB model and $179 for the 16 GB version. Also in 9 different colors.
• (Where) You can purchase these Ipods across the globe at Apple Stores, Online, Best Buy etc.
• (When)Released September 9th, 2009
• (Why) Apple tries to out-do each Ipod every year so that people will want to buy the latest and greatest.
• (How) With technology growing, it's easier to produce better and better things each year.

4. Ellen Degeneres and American Idol

• (Who) Ellen Degeneres
• (What) The comedic talk show host will be replacing Paula Abdul on American Idol
• (Where) You can watch Idol on Fox
• (When) the shows 9th season premieres in January
• (Why) Paula Abdul left because she wasn't getting a raise
• (How) After auditions were held, Ellen Degeneres will now be the newest judge.

5. Michael Jackson Vienna Tribute

• (Who) The King of Pop: Michael Jackson
• (What) Tribute concert
• (Where) Originally in Vienna-moved to London
• (When) Originally scheduled for September 2009, is now being moved to June 2010
• (Why) to honor Michael Jackson’s music and life
• (How) Tons of fans from all over the globe will be able to attend this concert for about $75 a ticket

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