Jaws Tweet #2

A third victim of Amity is killed by an unknown predator in the water. The victim James Park, 30, of Oak Bluffs was killed about 1:30 pm today on a small row boat.

Jaws Tweet

The calm ocean water of Amity erupts in screams, splashs, and people running to shore as a shark was sighted after the very recent capture of a killer shark.

Meeting of Sharks

Amity's darkest days have now passed since the giant killer shark blamed for the two gruesome deaths this weekend has now been caught and killed.

The fishermen who caught the beast in the waters one mile southwest of Amity receiving a $3,000 reward as mentioned yesterday at Amity's town meeting about both attacks.

At the meeting yesterday, Police Chief Martin Brody, spoke to the large crowd of worried islanders about how to deal with the two tragic deaths of Chrissie Watson and Alex Kitner this passed weekend.
The meeting ended with  Brody deciding that all beaches in Amity will be closed until further investigation.

Now, since the shark has been caught and killed, all the beaches throughout the beautiful island of Amity will reopen immediately just in time for the packs of visitors for the Fourth of July weekend.

After the shark was brought ashore it was inspected by Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from the Woods Hole, Mass., Oceanographic Institute, and one of the world's foremost experts on sharks. After inspection Hooper identified it has a Nurse Shark.

According to Hooper, Nurse Sharks are among the most brutal and dangerous sharks and have been responsible for hundreds of swimmers' deaths along the East Coast of the United States.

"After the autopsy of victim Chrissie Watson's mangled body the bite marks do not match up to the jaw of the Nurse Shark that was just caught," said Hooper. The bite marks on Watson are far bigger than the Nurse Shark could have possibly done."

During this coming weekend, islanders and guests should not be alarmed by the presence of shark spotters from the Coast guard, Marine Patrol, and the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S Navy, Homeland Security, and numerous local municipal and county police agencies in the waters off the beaches.

"While law enforcement officials urge vigilance on the part of all citizens, we believe we can safely say that the danger of further shark attacks has probably passed," said Brody."

Sandpaper

My last news article of the semester was about the 501 reading and Sandpaper which based on creative nonfiction writing. I believe this article is very good and compact with rich descriptions and a lot of information.(something I usually lack in most of my articles) This article idea came up when I realized there was a 501 reading this week, and why not kill to birds with one stone by going to the reading and writing an article about it because I believe the English department is heavily trying to make creative nonfiction more popular which I find interest in because I love writing creative nonfiction!

Right now I'm in Engl 623(Creative Nonfiction) and I decided to submit one of my essays to Sandpaper. What a better way to end this blog with an essay I wrote!

Yellow

            I feel a deep love for yellow, a moment my heart would bleed itself dry for.  This moment was unexpected. Yellow danced around the cool summer air and gently sunk into my skin. Yellow was inevitable, the color streamed through my body finding the right path to my heart. I believe my heart turned yellow for a moment. I fought happy tears, trying my hardest to avoid what was happening inside me. Now I wish I could’ve been strong enough to let those tears flood my innocent eyes. Crying would’ve felt moral. I think those tears are still trapped within my body, fighting the jail cell I have locked them in.

            I feel a deep love for music, the love a person would bleed themselves dry for. This love was fated, a gentle addiction. Music has affected me and my belongings. Headphone hair; scratches, metal worn, and screen water logged on iPod; slow computer because of too many illegal downloads; sudden outbursts of emotion, smiling, and dancing; two speakers blown, subwoofer set to max volume; absence of money; procrastination; a car ride never silent, car cassette adapter never ejected; 9,227 items, 25.6 days, 53.96 GB, 30 playlists. I was naïve to know where this love for music came from until I wrote about yellow, that writing about yellow would lead me back to where it all started.

           

            The tall white ceilings reflected the sound of The Kooks into my ears. The sound touched me like the purple ocean tide kissing the shoreline. The song wasn’t familiar, but the words sung seemed to be. My love for the sea had been represented within the song, the lyrics wrung so true, and the acoustic guitar, tranquil like the calm sea. We laid down on the beds in the loft with our heads where our feet should go. Jarret broke the silence next to me. His voice traveled below to the living room.

“Cori what is the name of this song?”

 “Seaside,” she responded.

            I drive by myself. My surfboard nudges my right shoulder. I turn onto Ocean Boulevard and play “Seaside”.  The sun is orange, the rays peak above pink clouds that hang over the horizon line, casting bright light through my windshield.  I feel warmth across my bare chest. The sun and sea breeze join me through the open windows. I cross the bridge watching the tide crawl along the shore. The sea fills up naturally along the sand. I join the song, singing the words to the open sea. I fell in love with the seaside.

           

            We drove around a lot. I liked driving around with her, she played good music. We liked to show each other our music as the car faded away along the yellow lined roads. I remembered she played “Lazy Eye” by Silversun Pickups, my ears a virgin to the different sound. The first verse explained how I felt about her, the moment I had been waiting for all my life. Not just that moment where we sat silently next to each other serene and in love, but the moment since I met her. The words were powerful. The way they were sung caught me off guard emotionally. A smile broke out. My emotions hugged my insides until the song was over.  We traveled with no purpose, just to listen next to each other. No words were spoken only if we had something important to say.

            I listen to “Lazy Eye”, but I don’t think about her anymore. I form along the curves of the green coach in the living room. I love my friends. I show them this song. A candle is lit on the coffee table distributing life and good scent to everyone. If I were to show a person a song, it would be this one. I don’t care what type of music a person likes. I want them to listen to this because I know they will feel something, and to know that someone feels something is special to me.

           

            I sat on a tall peach chair in a musty cluttered living room, my body irregular on the surface from a sweatshirt. The stench of old cigarettes and vinyl saturated my body. My friends were upstairs smoking weed for the first time. A black cat was walking along the oriental carpet, its silent body passed by in segments from the clutter of albums, books, and old clothes.  I noticed the soft sound of music playing on the stereo next to me on a thick old wooden stand. An album rested upon the dusty stereo. “Direction” by The Starting Line. I heard either Jarret or Brian cough from upstairs. I turned the grey knob on the stereo amplifying the song. The black cat stopped in place and looked up at me, my head bobbed and my hands gently smacked the arms of the couch.

            The traffic is heavy along the wide highway. The orange afternoon sun gently touches the side of my face, ear buds propped in both ears.  I don’t know how many times I have listened to this song in a row. I never finish the whole 4:49, pressing or holding the replay button to either go back to the start or rewind back to certain part. I rewind to the 1:00 point a lot. I watch the world pass me by, places and people I don’t know. This was a great time to think, I had the world at my fingertips, and “Best of Me” by The Starting Line playing in my ears. I thought about love, I thought about lyrics of the song coming true, and I thought about nothing. What a great feeling it was to think about nothing. I listen to the same song.

           

            The walls emitted an orange glow. We listened to the same band for hours while the fire showed us how calm a night could be. I laid my head back on the soft white cushion, my body a rag doll along the body of the couch. I couldn’t see the ocean but felt its presence, the dark wooden walls and floors made this true. The ocean blanketed the earths ground in front of the house. I felt special to be there, a place I had longed for, Laguna Beach.  Incubus melted my insides into a blissful trance. I was glad she had an album of all her favorite songs by them, songs I had never heard of.  I had just met her that night and already could call her a friend. “Love Hurts” by Incubus I remembered the most. The chorus slowed down time, my body and joints took time to move, my mind taken a long a lovely trip. The sound of the words sent a haunting chill throughout my body. We all relaxed on the couches surrounding the open living room all feeling the same thing, the fire holding our presence together.

            I shut the door to my room, sit on my bed, laptop on lap, and headphones snug over both ears. I immerse myself within the discography of Incubus. I want the songs I could listen to on repeat; I want songs that would get me excited; I want songs that I could imagine my life as something extraordinary by the click of the sideward triangle. I hunt; I download 146 items, their every album, their every song. I research listener’s opinions; I trust some, others I don’t. I find every song I had loved from that night. I sit on my bed listening to my favorite songs, nostalgic of my past week in California.

           

            A stack of records was set down upon the floor of my apartment. He would let us take care of them for a while. I never gave old music a chance, The Beatles my only exception. He listened to a lot of older music, his large collection of records proved this. I sat on my green couch with the stack on my lap. I flipped through, my fingertips feeling the slim vintage cardboard, my eyes noticing all the edges decaying to white. The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones. These bands I wanted to know.

            The white moon hovers in the clear black sky, leaving a lite trail inside our dark apartment. I reach my hand over towards the window to place the needle on the groove of “Physical Graffiti” by Led Zeppelin. I know the first song and the next; I know all of the songs. I have listened to this record a lot since I discovered it. We play records when we come home late in the night.

           

            I sat on Jarret’s futon while he played songs he liked. His sister was away in college. He loved Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, and Jacks Mannequin. I would go home, shut my door, and listen to them. I had never heard music like this before. This took my ears a while to understand, some sound taking multiples listens to grow into. Jarret’s sister would visit home sometimes. She would listen to music with him.  A chain reaction occurred of music. Cori, Jarret, Doug. This is where my journey began.

            The white wooden chair is stiff, but I feel comfortable. I am overwhelmed by nature, the beauty of the calm blue sea, the yellow sun and the clear blue skies. A couple stands underneath a tall white gazebo holding each other’s hands, their eyes filled with love as they stare at one another.  The young man begins to play a song on his acoustic guitar. I knew this song, and was happy Cori picked it for her wedding ceremony.  He plays “Yellow” by Coldplay.

           

           

                       

            

Jaws Sidebar

Should We Be Concerned About Shark Attacks?

The answer is yes. Even though shark attacks have been rare over New England’s history it doesn't mean that we shouldn't still be concerned.  Two of the deadliest shark species in the world can be found in New England waters. These species are known as the White Shark and Tiger shark, the White Shark being the most dangerous species of shark in the world.  

The Blue Shark is the most common shark species in New England waters during the summer. The Blue Shark and the Shortfin Mako are species in New England waters that are also capable of attacking people.

Paul Tsang, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences at the University of New Hampshire analyzed a map of confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in the United States from the years 1670-2011.

 “From what I can see, there has been very few total shark attacks in New England waters which support the notion that it is relatively safe, from this perspective, to swim in New England waters,” said Tsang. “However, people should know that there has been Great White Shark sightings in local waters for the last couple of summers. Because of their appearance, that may raise some safety concerns for people who live near those areas where the sightings have occurred”

According to Tsang, last summer a Blue Shark was sighted in Rye, NH.  In December 2010, an enormous white shark was brought up in a net off of Chatham, Cape Cod. Also in December 2009, a seal was bitten by a White Shark also in Cape Cod. 

Ultimately, people on the New England coast should still be concerned about sharks.

http://newenglandsharks.com/Page7whiteshark.html

Bond University

Yesterday I had my pre-departure orientation for Gold Coast, Australia. A month from now I will be leaving to study at Bond Univeristy. I am very anxious, nervous, and excited to get there. At the orientation, one of my group leaders was a UNH student who had went to Bond last year, which was really helpful with information that I lacked before the orientation. One thing that she said that got me very nervous was that Bond University is a very, very, very, hard school. She said, "Bond is known as an Ivy League school in Australia, its like our Harvard to them." Right when those words dropped like a bomb out of her mouth I got scared. I am more scared at the fact that I will be taking classes for my major there. I wonder how much work will go into my journalism classes, I'm really excited to see, but very nervous at the time I will need to spend doing work for my classes. I want to be able to have a lot of free time! Heck I'm on the Gold Coast! I guess I can only tell once I arrive.

Here is a picture I took from the side of my front yard on a beautiful summer evening. Looking at this picture makes me so nostalgic of the long hot days.

Photo: Doug Robichaud Location: Plaistow, NH

Facebook privacy notice

This week I've noticed a lot of my friends on Facebook were posting the same status about how Facebook has become a public traded entity. This is strange because I had realized Facebook became a public traded entity a couple months ago. Friends of mine had copy and pasted a paragraph of text claiming that their profile will now be protected by copyright laws. I did some research on these notices people were posting and found it copying and pasting these claims as statues would not protect their copyright and protective rights. So pretty much this whole thing was a scam. Its strange to see Facebook has gotten as big as it has. Not only is almost every college student using this as Facebook was made for, but now companies, businesses, and families are using it. Its very strange to see how far times have come in such a short period of time!

Here is a picture of Mr. Monkey, my cute cat that I love oh so much! I love taking pictures of him!

Photo: Doug Robichaud 

Closing Time

After my last conference of the semester for newswriting I thought long and hard about my progression through the semester. My last two weekly articles weren't the best, nothing to be proud of. They weren't good because I didn't put enough time on gathering the correct information to write them. Either it was a very busy week for me, or I just couldn't figure out a newsworthy topic to write about, which leaves me with only a day or two to gather all info I need and write an article. As I write this, I still haven't been able to think of a topic to write about for this coming week. I ask good friends, other friends, students in my classes, and yet have figured out a cool new story. 

 I do think my journalistic writing skills have improved a lot since last year though. I've realized how to tell cold hard facts an interesting way that will get the readers attention. I'm finding the heart in the story, I'm showing the reader real people and their stories. I think all my troubles in newswriting come from reporting aspect, not the actual writing of them. Overall this semester I have done much better in writing articles, but I'm still not too satisfied with my performance.

Here is a picture I took over the summer around my house.

Photo: Doug Robichaud Location: Plaistow, NH

Alex Kitner

Just announced, Alex Kitner, 10, of Mayfair Court was killed in what appears to have been a viscous shark attack. 

Kitner was enjoying the beautiful day at Village Beach with his friends while floating on a rubber raft in the water when all of a sudden he was attacked. Eye witnesses said that they couldn't identify the predator.  His bloody damaged raft floated ashore shortly after the incident with what appeared to be a large bite out of it. 

“We hasten to ask the press to not to jump to any conclusions regarding the perpetrator or perpetrators in this tragic incident, said Amity Village police chief, Martin Brody.

Alex’s mother, Marion Kintner, was at the beach during the attack, and is being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital.

“I join Amity Mayor Vaughn in expressing the town’s deepest and most sincere condolences to the Kintner Family,” said Brody.

The Amity Village Police are still under investigation of the tragic death of 17 year old girl Chrissie Watson.  Her mangled body was found early this morning washed up on South Beach in Amity Island. 

Watson was last seen alive leaving a beach party with another teen around 11pm. Watson decided to go swimming and entered the water at a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy. 

After brief search, Watson’s body was found high up on the top of the dunes by Police Deputy Jay Hendricks early this morning on South Beach. Hendricks said Watson's body was severely mauled by an attacker of an unknown origin. 

According to Hendricks, Watson's mauled body has been transported to the coroner's office for autopsy. 

          The Amity Village Police now believe that it may be possible that Watson's death could also maybe have been possibly linked to possible shark activities in the vicinity of Amity.
          According to Brody, no charges have yet to be filed in both cases, though a shark attack has not been completely ruled out. Brody said that there has been no history of shark attacks on Amity Island, but will investigate further once the autopsy has been revealed. 
          The Amity Village Police said that  they want to assure all residents and visitors that they are in no danger. The beaches will remain open for swimming pending on the outcome of the investigation.

          A special meeting will be held by the mayor, police chief, and the Amity Board of Selectmen at 6pm today in the Town Hall. Here they will discuss the closing of beaches and reward of $3000 for capturing the unknown predator.

       

Chrissie Watson

The Amity Village Police are under investigation of the tragic death of 17 year old girl Chrissie Watson.  Her mangled body was found early this morning washed up on South Beach in Amity Island. 

Watson was last seen alive leaving a beach party with another teen around 11pm. This male has been identified as Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, a former resident of the island. Witnesses said that both teenagers had been drinking heavily and possibly smoking marijuana during the evening.

Watson decided to go swimming and entered the water at a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy. 

 That evening the weather was clear, temperature in the low 70’s, and the seas were calm. The water temperature was 65 degrees, winds out of the south at about three knots. When Watson did not return from the water, Hoggenbottam notified the police at about 6am. 

After brief search, Watson’s body was found high up on the top of the dunes by Police Deputy Jay Hendricks early this morning on South Beach. Hendricks said Watson's body was severely mauled by an attacker of an unknown origin. 
According to Hendricks, Watson's mauled body has been transported to the coroner's office for autopsy. No charges have been filed in this case, and police are continuing their investigation into the incident. 

          The Amity Village Police said that though a shark attack has not been completely ruled out, and they want to assure all residents and visitors that they are in no danger. The beaches will remain open for swimming pending on the outcome of the investigation.

         Amity Police Chief Martin Brody said that Amity has had no history with shark attacks, but will investigate further once the autopsy has been revealed.

       

Ultimate City Chase

The Ultimate City Chase

      

            NEW YORK CITY-- A Frenchman, and suspected assassin, Pierre Jeantot, 36, of Nice, France was shot and killed yesterday. NYPD narcotics officer, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, was put to the ultimate test in a chase through the compacted city streets after Jeantot which ended in glory when Doyle put a bullet through Jeantot’s chest.

            During the intense chase Jeantot managed to kill three innocent people before being shot down by Doyle. Doyle had chased Jeantot from 35 Street Station to the 15 Street Station.

            Betty B. Badluck, 63, of the Bronx, was the first victim, killed by a sniper rifle Jeantot was using to target Doyle. Horatio C. Hornblower, 30, of White Plains was shot on the train. The last person to be killed was 15-year veteran of the NYPD, Roland Evans, 34, of Brooklyn.

            According to eye witnesses accounts of the chase, the horrific afternoon began when Doyle was walking home through the courtyard in front of his apartment building after a day of work. Suddenly, according to witness Julie Crane, a loud bang resonated throughout the serene courtyard populated with usual city goers. Crane immediately saw an old women collapse to the concrete ground, abandoning her stroller that kept a young child. Crane said that panic had set loose, the screams of innocent people echoed along the walls that surrounded the courtyard. Crane then spotted a man out on the courtyard who ripped out a gun from the holster on his pants like a superhero. This superhero was Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle.

 “I watched this man take cover with a gun in hand and sought out the shooter as he spotted him above on the rooftop of an apartment building surrounding the courtyard,” said Crane.  “The man then scaled the brick walls along the apartment and entered the building where the shooter was. A couple minutes later I saw the same man sprint out of the building towards the street. It seemed that the shooter had gotten away.”

            According to eye witness, Stephen Lars, Doyle was seen in an orange GT swerving and speeding through traffic on 24 Street Station. Lars said he was in his car waiting in a line of traffic to go grocery shopping when he heard a car skidding and a symphony of car horns from up ahead. He said the screeches and horns got louder until all of a sudden he saw car heading straight towards his oncoming lane going at least 60 mph.

“All the cars in front of me and I began honking our horns loudly so he wouldn’t smash into us, I was scared for my life,” said Lars. “The orange GT honked back at us louder reaching closer and closer to the line of traffic. I closed my eyes and feel the hard breeze of the orange GT burst by me car somehow making it to other side of the road.”

            Meanwhile above 26 Street Station, Jeantot was making his escape on the train above the street. According to eye witness Kimberly Korb, she had seen a man suspiciously entered into her train car and proceeded to bang on the trainman’s door impatiently. Korb was one of the many other people in the train car watching Jeantot bang on the door. The man kept looking back at Korb and the others sitting down quietly on the benches of the train.

 “This man opened the door to the conductor, entered, and slammed it shut,” said Korb. “The train didn’t stop at the next stop when it should’ve which brought confused train passengers and the conductor to the front train car where I resided to see what the trainman was doing. They began to knock on the trainman’s door and all of a sudden this man came out holding a gun out at the crowd of confused people.”

            At this point the people on the train knew it was being hijacked. Korb said the conductor on the train stood in front of the crowd of people facing the man holding the gun. Korb said that the conductor told the man that he wasn’t going to get away with this and to put his gun done. The man responded “get back”, and soon after with one bullet shot the conductor in his chest. Panic then erupted inside the train car as the conductor falls like a rag doll on the trains ground. Korb then said the train broke out to sudden screeching stop.

            According to eye witness, Mark Jenkins, he saw an orange GT skid to off the road to a halt, where the train above had just stopped. He said the orange cruiser was banged up all over. He said a man proceeded to get out of the car in a rush and ran to the closest steps leading up to the train tracks.

“About a minute later of the man leaving his car I heard a gunshot,” said Jenkins.

            Doyle had succeeded in the chase and killed Jeantot with his .38 caliber service revolver from the bottom steps to the platform of the 15 Street elevated railway station.

            According to homeland security records, Jeantot entered into the country Nov. 4 after a flight from Paris, France. The New York City Police suspect that he was associated with a crime syndicate that had been laying the groundwork for a major heroin shipment from France to New York City. Two other men thought to be involved in the smuggling operation are being sought at this time.

            Ruth L. Ess, the New York City Police commissioner said that it’s unfortunate when these incidents end in a loss of life.

“We would have preferred to see Jeantot prosecuted in the courts, and we believe Doyle was close to a breakthrough case,” said Ess. “We commend Detective Doyle for his bravery and quick thinking under very trying circumstances. We will continue a vigorous and thorough investigation into what appears to be a major smuggling operation.”

Narrative Writing

I just finished my narrative story on the car chase we watched last class. I had a lot of fun writing this, unlike most original news stories we had been doing all semester. After gathering and writing all the information I wanted in the article I found myself asking a difficult question that I may not know the answer to. I'm actually not sure if I can even explain this correctly with words, but I'll give it a try! For example: My first eye witness of the courtyard/sniper scene sees the old women get shot, sees the panic, and also sees Joyce stand out among the crowd of people, retrieving a gun from his holster. When I'm explaining what my eyewitness saw do I saw "this man" or do I use "Joyce". I say this because this eye witness probably didn't know what this mans name was, let alone know him personally. I found myself question this my whole paper when I was describing the scene from all my four eye witnesses.

I decided to take the route with writing "this man" instead of "Joyce or Jeantot".

Here is a picture I took a couple weeks ago around dusk of the moon and a really cool looking cloud.

Photo: Doug Robichaud Location: Newmarket, NH

My Trip to Gold Coast

As my departure to the Gold Coast is coming up quickly I have decided that I want to travel write during my time there. I also want to take picture and video along with my writing. Journalism skills will come in good use to my travel writing. I want my voice but also other peoples voices like Australians and other students abroad. Experience with interviewing, talking and meeting new people will be easy. I know this venture out across the globe will be epic so why not put some of it down on writing, writing about the moments that I think have changed me, moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. I've realized this is an unbelievable opportunity, and I want to take it for granted as much as possible!

I'm still trying to set up a structure for how I want to travel write. Do I want it to be like a diary? Do I want a picture to go along with the writing? What will be the overall theme of all the writing? Will I have enough time to keep up with the writing?

This is a photo I took at Jenness Beach in Rye after a late afternoon surf session.

Photo: Doug Robichaud Location: Cable. Rye, NH

Criminal activity in my town

I found out last night on channel 9 news that a couple from my town, Plaistow, has been accused of assaulting a three-year-old child. "Jessica Linscott, 23, and Roland Dow, 27, are now wanted on felony first-degree assault charges for allegedly abusing Linscott's 3-year-old son." This couple is no where to found, a search has been made and still the couple hasn't been found. I thought I would've recognized at least one person of the couple, but couldn't seem to recognize either. Today the search case was updated and expended to Massachusetts, because of local people calling in saying they had seen this couple around. 

This surprised me because Plaistow never has much breaking news going on. Now thinking back, I cant recall ever having breaking news like this. My town is small and quiet, a boring one to say the least. This local news is interesting to me. This story gets me excited! 


http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Search-expands-for-Plaistow-couple-accused-of-assaulting-toddler/-/9857858/17487796/-/otb4lc/-/index.html

Here is an old picture I took before all the beautiful fall foliage fell off the trees. This was taken at Adam's Point, walking back from the beautiful view of the great bay.

Photo: Doug Robichaud Location: Adam's Point, Durham, NH

Downtown Portsmouth's Whale Mural

SAVE THE WHALE PAINTING!

Every Sunday night a local surfer from Hampton, NH, Ralph Fatello, updates his blog called "Ralph's Pic of the Week." This blog can be found as a link on the local surf shop, Cinnamon Rainbows, webpage. In this weekly blog Ralph writes about the current happening's going around the Hampton area. This week was focused on Hurricane Sandy. Ralph takes pictures of people surfing at the local breaks and posts them up on his blog. Through the years I have been on this website three times. The pictures are very well taken. Along with Ralph there are also other surf photographers featured in this blog with their pictures through out the week. In the blog this week he wrote about the famous wall painting of a whale in Portsmouth is in danger of being removed and order to build a new parking garage. He said,"If you want help save the wall painting voice your opinion." After reading this I realized what I great article this would be. I feel that Portsmouth residents have a lot of voice about this mural. Since I can remember Portsmouth I always have remembered the whale mural since I was a little kid. I cant imagine how people of Portsmouth feel about this famous mural being taken down because of a parking garage. I think I may go more in depth with this idea and write and article. This really shows how reading a lot can create good news stories. 

Here is an old photo of my first appearance on "Ralph's Pic of the Week."

Will Ferrell Parody Obama Tweet

image credit: OC Family

I read a tweet by @FillWerrell (Will Ferrell Parody account) that said "For Halloween I'm going to be Obama and take all the candy the kids trick-or-treated for and give it to the kids who didn't trick-or-treat." I thought this was very funny and clever. Yesterday my parents had come up to go get a bite to eat in Portsmouth and in the car ride the election came up. This conversation reminded me of the tweet I had read a couple days before. My Mom asked, "Who are you going to vote for?" I responded with, "I don't know, who are you voting for?".  She said she was voting for Romney and my Dad agreed. My Mom gave preached her reasoning for wanting Romney as President. She said that she doesn't believe that people who work hard should have to pay for the people who aren't working. She said how she works hard for the medical coverage she has and shouldn't be paying for other people to get this coverage. She agreed with me when I said how I didn't like the way Romney acted in all the debates.(Facial expressions, how he answered question.) My Mom responded to this as, "He's just bad at talking in front of people. Obama is a great in front of the camera, he is more celebrity like." I agreed somewhat.

Hurricane Sandy Thoughts

I enjoyed Hurricane Sandy probably because the storm didn't hit my area that hard. The worst day of the storm was Monday, Oct. 11. I drove down to the beach on this day in the afternoon to see how stormy the coast was. Right as I stepped out of my car, an unexpected gust of wind struck my whole body. The wind blew cold rain into my face making it impossible to keep my eyes open. I tried to looked over The Wall in North Hampton, NH but couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to clearly see the roaring ocean. The high speed winds made run back into my car and check out more protected spots up the coast into Rye, NH. Once arriving to a rocky point in Rye, I hopped outside my car to no rain but still heavy wind. I could open my eyes and actually see the ocean clearly. The waves were very big at this point. Very dangerous waves crashed all along the rocky shore and far out into the abyss of ocean. It was very cool to see Hurricane Sandy on the New Hampshire coast. The conditions weren't too dangerous, which brought a lot of curious people to the coast to see the ocean. During my venture along the coast I saw a lot of people parked and outside their cars watching the ocean. An old guy ran out of his mini van, jumped up on the wall, and did some sort of yoga position balancing on one foot facing the gusting winds. He fell over right away, but got up with a smile.

Here is a picture my friend took of me with his Canon in the depths of Hurricane Sandy at Sawyer's in Rye. It looks like I am levitating.

Photo: Dan Crane Rye, NH

A Growing Relationship

I'd like to say my relationship with the news has sky rocketed from the beginning of the semester. Now whenever I walk by and see the stacks of a new issue of The New Hampshire I decide to grab one. I usually read just the first couple of pages, most articles not all the way through. I feel more interested in the stories, realizing that it is good practice to read other journalists articles. Reading other peoples good writing can be used as a tool for myself to write better. A good article gives a way of writing an article differently than you organically do. You might catch something in other peoples writing that you want to use in yours. Write now in one of my writing classes, the class was told to pick a nonfiction book and read it all, then imitate there style of writing. I did this freshmen year with a class. The final result is amazing. I took in so much good writing that it made my writing that much better. I feel like this goes for news writing in a way, but more with the structure of an article. How does the reporter get my attention? How do they go off of their lead? Who do the quote and where do they put these quotes in there articles? How do they get to the heart of the story? These are all good questions to ask when reading a good journalists work. I'm trying to read more to learn more, and its making my relationship with the news grow stronger and stronger.

(This has nothing to do with what I was talking about.)
I started to become interested in photography over the summer when my parents bought an SLR camera. I toyed around with it during the summer on trips I would take, beautiful days outside the house, and at gatherings I would have with friends. I taught myself how to mess a round with lighting, exposure, aperture, and all the silly effects. I'm still learning how to use this camera, I've realized how long it can take to fully understand every aspect of an SLR. I'm still trying to get those amazing pictures. Just now I thought that I should post some of the pictures I've taken that I like. This is the post where I will begin this quest of taking the best photo for my blog.

Photo: Doug Robichaud  Location: Hampton Public Works, Hampton, NH 

Tropical Storm Sandy

Tropical Storm Sandy

Being a surfer, I tend to check the weather a lot especially during hurricane season. This season has been pretty flat compared to other seasons that I can remember. I surfed Hurricane Rafael this week/weekend which wasn't the best. I can remember a couple years back when Hurricane Bill hit the east coast with the most amazing waves I have ever ridden. Yes I have been to famous breaks in Hawaii and California. Hurricane Bill was better. Now I search for more swells like this one. I found an article on tropicaltidbits.com where it told me about Tropical Storm Sandy that will be approaching the East Coast around next week. Weather sites predict that Sandy will be one of the strongest Autumn storms the east coast has ever seen. After reading this blurb about Sandy I went to check the surf forecast site I knew that gave the swell prediction a week ahead. The swell height radically bumps up on Sunday October, 28. These waves aren't that big, until I see the last day the forecast predicts which is Wednesday, October 31 where the swell height and conditions look unbelievable. Thank you Sandy! This Halloween could be epic! I hope Sandy follows the path they predict. Right now Sandy is in the Caribbean where originally formed. Sandy will continue to move northeastward out to sea, moving up the East Coast.

Alpine Live

Photo: Ryan Denning Location: Fox Hill, NH

Since last year I've been going on this website called alpine-live.com. This website is run by a bunch of cool dudes that enjoy cinematography and photography. "We are young, cutting edge, and ambitious," they say in their "About" tab of the website. I found out about this website because these guys love action sports. They film and photograph pictures of local surfers I've surfed with, the beaches I know and love, and make high definition, full HD, quality videos of local surfers that are very well done. I'm ecstatic when I see they've updated their website with pictures or video.

I met the one of the partners of Alpine Live when I was surfing last August during the hurricane Irene swell. I was at a beautiful point break off of Ocean Boulevard in Rye. Its off a point where the road becomes bendy and mountainous. It gives off a feeling as if you driving along the steep ragged cliffs of California. One side of the road is where the ocean is seen below, and the other side is lined with beautiful mansions. One mansion I have given the name "The Great Gatsby", because of its major similarity to the house Fitzgerald describes flawlessly in his novel. The point is called Fox Hill, a name only local know about, a break where its dangerous to be out on especially when it gets big there. I met Ryan Denning after climbing up the many rocks to get back up to my parked car. He had his video camera up on a tripod filming a number of people surfing. "Hey I got some great footage of you at there," he said to me with a smile on his grizzly unshaven face. I noticed he was the photographer for Alpine Live and told him how much I support what he's doing. From the little conversation I had with him, I felt that he was a great guy doing something artistic and creative with his life. This is something I would love to do. Take pictures, video, and have a great time doing it. Check out their website, you will be impressed!

http://alpine-live.com/

Is this article that newsworthy?

I don't understand how this news is worthy enough to be on channel 9's website. Its news about a cat returning home from its injury caused by a barn fire that occurred a month ago. Why is this cat returning home to its owners good news? The headline did catch my attention, but after watching the video I said: "So what." For a person that loves cats as much as I do, I still wasn't sure why this was news. The cat was injured with bad burns a month ago from the fire. I'm not sure if they reported on it then, but this is old news to me. I think the best moment in this story is that the barns pig led the owner to the inured cat out in the woods.. This is where I found the heart of the story, but it still wasn't that fascinating. I've heard so many stories about hero pets. I don't keep up with the news most of the time, but this article made me realize what is happening to peoples interest as times change. People are probably more interested in this cat article than they would be about the Presidential Debate. Anyways, this article really made me want to write an article about a cat.


http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Cat-badly-burned-in-barn-fire-returns-home/-/9857858/17086436/-/7yiudvz/-/index.html

Struggles

My main struggle with journalism is finding article ideas. I wish we were given press releases to stories so I wouldn't panic over finding an idea. I walk to my classes always looking around for an idea to spark. There never is a spark, or sometimes there is that spark but the idea seems to complex to write a story about in the matter of a week. It seems that if I don't find an idea after Wednesday's class before Friday, I struggle and panic to get an idea that still hasn't sparked for me. I don't have a lot of time during the weekend to report.
 This happens a lot, which is bad because I have to rush to report and write the article. I am forced to find the first idea I have and go off of that. Maybe I have these news worthy ideas inside me? I wonder if I'm being too picky about what I want to report? I think I need to be more open to every type of idea. Last week I heard about the Durham Marketplace caught on fire, but thought I wouldn't have enough time to accomplish the story in the way I would want to. The fire seemed like a big story, I should have just given it a try.

Meeting Story Exercise

Portsmouth High School students might have to miss their early morning cartoons on Saturdays from now on.  

A School Board meeting was in session last night discussing the motion to approve a new rule that requires students who have disciplinary problems during the school week. This proposal would require an allocation of about $3,000 per year for staffing. 

A parent, Peggy Bacon, spoke up on how she did not think the proposal was a good idea.

"I work six days a week--including Saturday morning-- and its bad enough to get my son off to school Monday through Friday," said Bacon. "Why should I have to worry about Saturday as well? I'm not going to force him to go. Its not going to make any difference, and we are going to pay higher taxes as well for it."

Steele responded that the new disciplinary measure is being proposed in an effort to reduce the number of in-house suspensions. In-house suspensions are given to students caught smoking inside or outside of Portsmouth High School. 

Lisa Gallagher, a senior at Portsmouth High School who has never served a detention in her 12 years in school, also spoke against the new rule.

"I think its being done to make life easier for the faculty, so they don't have to deal with detentions during the week," said Gallagher. "What if someone wants to skip a session? What are they going to do, make them stay all weekend."

Steele responded that if a student skips a Saturday session, he or she will not be allowed to return to school until the detention has been served.

Resident Bob Farley of Portsmouth said he liked the idea of the new rule.

"Parents can whine all they want about this," said Farley. "Maybe its time parents in America were made to take a little responsibility for their kids."

The board voted 5-3 at the end of the meeting with one member abstaining to table the issue until their next meeting March 7. Steele was instructed to return at that time with figures on in-school detentions so far this year.  

New Zealand's Hobbit Trail

Its strange to think about the setting a movie is filmed in. Movies are filmed all across the world in diverse locations, some places we may or may have not been to. It seems that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in a far off fantasy world, but really it was filmed in various parts of New Zealand. I didn't realize that people across the world were visiting New Zealand just to see the places the famous trilogy was filmed in. According to the article 266,000 people have visited the half ruined Hobbiton. (aka Lord of the Rings villages etc.) A majority of these people were not even from New Zealand. I can't imagine all these die hard fans traveling across the world to see the lands these movies were filmed on, but at the same time I think its awesome! This article is up and coming news because "The Hobbit" is in the making and will be released in 2014. This movie will also be filmed in New Zealand. This article is very fun when it is very descriptive with the New Zealand geography and the die hard Lord of the Ring fans. It's the type of story that is interesting for anyone. My friend is in New Zealand right now, and its funny because he is about to go venture off with some friends to find some of the lands they filmed on!


http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/travel/new-zealands-hobbit-trail.html?ref=travel

2 Men Accused Of Riding a Stolen Lawn Mower

I saw this story as the first headline on Channel 9's website, and right away thought it was funny and interesting news. I think its really funny that these two guys stole a John Deere tractor from a mans's shed. What makes it even better is that they were driving it down a neighborhood road at 1am, and when officers spotted them, they sprinted away. I liked how the owner of the tractor thought it was an amusing occurrence, but I don't think it would've been so funny if he never got it back right away. Once the man realized his tractor was gone the next morning, the police had already obtained the stolen John Deere tractor. These types of funny occurrences is what makes me love the news. Even though this wasn't huge breaking news, it was on the news channels headlines because it is a fun interesting story. This was the first story I saw when I got onto their website. It got my attention right away with the headline: 2 men accused of riding stolen lawnmower in Manchester. Underneath in a subtitle it said, "Police man on mower wont pull over." It seems they found this story comical also, which I believe they should. News should be fun sometimes because a lot of depressing occurrences happen all the time!

http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/2-men-accused-of-riding-stolen-lawnmower-in-Manchester/-/9857858/16801312/-/wlcwxtz/-/index.html

U.S Soldier Survives Taliban Gun Fire

Today on CNN they showed a video of a U.S Soldier surviving Taliban gun fire during a firefight. The footage is unbelievable. I have never seen such footage like this from Afghanistan. It was a really intense the whole time, a soldier who is by himself on a rocky slope battling for his survival. Below is the description of the video which quotes the soldier in combat. "I got hit a total of 4 times," he said, but they never mention what the soldiers name was. It was crazy to see bullets just miss the soldier through out the whole clip while he was in combat. It was so real to see a soldier in the midst of gun fire. The way he was heavily breathing, talking to himself loud, and you can hear the panic in his stride across the rocky mountain. It really hit me hard watching this man fight for our country, it shows what courage and strength are army has. When he gets shot I suddenly really felt for this man. The way he was calling for help that last minute of the movie because he got hit was emotional. It was hard to see that no one came to save him.

My Relationship With the News

               There is no relationship with the news and I, not even a break up, nor a divorce. I will see the news from time to time, but never on a daily basis. Ironically this morning I watched some news on CNN just because it was on the TV when I got home. I do not like to watch tv, so the chances of me flipping through channels and watching the news is very slim.

                I don’t care enough about what’s happening around me, or in a larger perspective, the world. Should I care? I ask that sometimes, being an English Journalism major, and taking this class on newswriting.  The news doesn't capture my attention because in my free time I like to do the activities that interest me.  It wouldn’t make sense if I spent my free time doing things that didn’t interest me. I kind of do wish that it did interest me, so I could have a better overall understanding of what’s going on and more importantly the Presidential race going on right now. The news doesn’t seem to catch my attention, and politics bore me to death. The strange part of being not interested in the news is that when I watch it randomly, I do tend to get sucked into the stories. I believe humans are drawn to breaking news. In news there is satisfying curiosity and the pain of suspense. We love seeing crazy happenings to other people, maybe even people we may  know.

                I watched the news more over the summer than I do now at school. My parents watch the news at 5pm every day. Over the summer, when I wasn’t working, sometimes I would sit down and watch it with them, but this didn’t occur a lot. The time of my life I can say I watched the most news was when I was in high school.  This reason again being my parents watching it every day. I was home a lot more often, and it seemed natural for me to simply watch the new before dinner.

                I think Journalism can already satisfy my needs I’m just not letting it. If the TV in my apartment would turn on automatically at 6pm every night on a news channel, the volume so loud I would realize the news is on, I would totally watch the news a lot more. I forget. When I do watch the news, it’s satisfying to me. The big stories are interesting, brand new, and fun.  But like I said before, I have no need and desire to know what’s happening around me.

               The future of journalism is confusing to think about for me. I know journalism has been evolving a lot for a while now, the times are definitely  changing. I feel like Journalism will have a huge turning point, where the internet is the new fresh opportunity for journalism to expand in.

Car Stalled on Tracks

Seventeen year old, James Laboke of Old Orchard Beach saved an old mans life this morning from getting plowed into pieces by the Downeaster train.

On Labokes early morning walk to work at 6am he spotted a car stalled on the tracks. After banging on the window, he said the man was slumped over the steering wheel appearing to be unconscious. All the doors were locked and the cars engine was still running.

There is a passenger train operated by Amtrack called the Downeaster that runs through Old Orchard Beach around 6:10am every day. Once Laboke spotted the car he ran 100 yards to the police station to get help.

At 6:05am Janet Paradiso, Captian of the town police force was in her cruiser a mile away from the railroad crossing when she heard the call on the radio about the stalled vehicle. She arrived at the scene at 6:05, where she heard the trains whistle howl from a distance.

Paradiso knew she had little time to get the car off the tracks. So she rammed her police cruiser into the elderly mans Cadillac Seville and pushed it off of the tracks. Thirty seconds later, the train passed through at about 40 miles per hour.

The man in the car was 80-year-old Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Quebec City, Canada.

 "I don't remember a thing," said Truffaut who is a diabetic.

The police report said that Truffaut may have gone into insulin shock as he reached the railroad crossing.

After the incident, Laboke reported to work on time where he is a waiter at the Easy Breezy Restaurant. Laboke's boss, Charles Champagine learned about Laboke's heroic actions later from reporters calling the restauraunt. Laboke had  never mentioned to him what had happened.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Champaigne. "That young man is one of my most responsible employees. Hes's just as great kid."

Laboke said later, "I never thought about it. I just knew I couldn't let that man get crushed by a train."

EHS Senior Olympic Medalist

Victoria Arlen was left paralyzed from the waist down at age 5.

 It was an illness called transverse myelitis, a rare neurological virus that caused inflammation in her spine.

Fast forwarding to Victoria's senior year of high school she has won four medals in the 2012 Paralympic Summer Games in London for swimming.

Arlen's story has been an inspiration to many. Friday will be Victoria Arlen Day in New Hampshire.

Mill Road Accident

Tuesday evening two passengers were hospitalized after a car accident on Mile Hill Road in Belmont, Mass. It took rescuers 45 minutes to free the two victims from the car. 

Jamie Peterson, 17, of Elm Street in Belmont was the driver of the car. He managed to escape out of the car on his own. The two female victims, which names are still unknown, rescuers had to use the jaws of life to free both of them. 

The victims were taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont. One victim was in stable conditions while the other was airlifted to Mass. General Hospital. 

Tom Carroll Jr., 17, was driving on Mile Hill Road at the same time as the car.

"I thought the worst. They were flying," said Carroll. "Its hard to see kids your age in something like this."

Carroll was first to the scene and told police he had been driving behind their car when it suddenly sped up ahead around a curve. When he got around the curve the car was flipped over on its roof.

Josie M. Crandall lives on Mile Hill Road and saw the accident happen from her home window. 

"I've never seen a car going so fast on this road. It's a dirt road, and its really easy to lose control," said Crandall.

There was a fatal accident at this same spot Dec 24, 2005. Here two local teenagers were killed in that accident. 









   

Journalism

90% reporting and 10% writing. Its about not being afraid to go out and meet new people and learn new facts. Its about not making the reader bored by using the style of the inverted pyramid, stating the most important information first to the least important information last. This style will make the reader keep wanting more from your story. Journalism is a lot of listening, if you're not a good listener then Journalism probably isn't for you. You need to get the facts right and perfect because there's a chance you could get these facts wrong by not listening well. Journalism is what keeps us on top of the news, even if its thousands of miles away from us. We can simply get our news from smart phones, tablets, and wireless laptops instead of reading our daily newspaper. Times are changing.

Red Riding Hood

       Early Tuesday morning, in the woods, a Huntsmen saved a young girl and her Grandmother from being eaten by a wolf.
     
     
       


       "Every day hunting in the woods I pass by this Grandmothers cottage and have never heard such a noise come from the window, I knew something was wrong and someone was in danger," said the Huntsmen.
     
        When the huntsmen went to go check up on the Grandmother he found a wolf lying down in her bed, clothed with all the Grandmothers clothes on. He knew that the wolf had eaten the Grandmother whole.
       
        The Huntsmen grabs a knife and kills the Wolf, and then proceeded to cut open his stomach. Here the Grandmother and the young girl crawl out of the wolfs stomach and are saved.

        "I will never wonder off the forest path again," said Little Red Riding Hood