Quad Blogs

Hello webby readers!

School has started again, and the new semester has already brought on ludicrous amounts of homework, sleep-deprivation, and [the most important]:
ENTERTAINING ANTICS IN THE QUAD NEWSROOM!

We laid out our second issue of the semester this past Sunday [distributed on Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday] – and of course, ridiculousness ensued.

Here’s one of the end results from this week’s newsroom banter:
“I was looking for a way to lead into male genitalia,”  -Chris Monigle, Entertainment Editor.  

Now, what raunchy conversation could Chris had been involved in to lead to this statement?
Actually, this was simple newsediting - trying to find a way to censor a statement made in an article about….well, male genetalia. It’s amazing how something like phrase exchange can manage to make a statement like that so… uninteresting.

Space-fillers/newswriters

new e-mail system

new papercut

Facebook FanCheck

Well, as I sit here watching the Flyers make a slow, agonizing, hopeful comeback in the second game of the Stanley Cup, I notice the couch I’m sitting on. The same couch that I realize I will only use for the next two days.

Why? Because I, TjT, am entering “big girl” living situations. I move into my first off-campus, must-pay-rent-myself apartment on Thursday.

Though many of you who readily access the Quad Blogs have probably already passed or mentally downplayed this stage in your own life, I’m all for the minority. The one, desperately-unsatisfied-with-dorm-life student out there who stumbles across this small nook in cyberspace, begging for move-in tips. I’m here for you.

My goal is to make moving in seem much easier than it is for this baby to open this child-proof door.

First off – let me clarify at which stage of apartment transitioning we’re in. You’ve found the place, the roommates, signed the lease, and now you’re realizing you have an empty place to fill between the 2, 3, 4, 17 of you. Here’s some tips to help in making the switch a little less stressful.

1) Make an Excel sheet.

How many people are living in your apartment? Now, how many cups do you REALLY need?

Seriously, this is probably one of the best ideas one of my future roommates has come up with. After making a list of everything needed for the apartment (sorted by room), we color coded each item based on who was bringing the item. We updated the list every couple weeks ago, when one or more of us received something to tribute to the new place. Keep in mind, don’t add cleaning materials or food to this list – purely permanent things – dishware, furniture, misc. items like brooms, rugs, etc..etc..

2. Where to get these items?

a) Tell everyone you know you’re looking for things for an apartment. One of my cousins was trying to get rid of her pots and pans, but so was one of my roommates’ moms. Depending on the size of your place, you probably don’t have room for two sets of pots and pans, but it doesn’t hurt to ask around.

b) Two words. Yard. Sales. I know early Friday and Saturday mornings aren’t everyone’s favorite adventure times, but you’d be surprised at the type of things you can find at yard/garage sales. For example – I found a wood block for knives, with a complete set of cooking knives and 6 steak knives, with 8 herb/spice containers and two side containers built into the block, for $3. That’s right. THREE DOLLARS.  A lot of yard sales tend to have furniture as well, whether couches, tables, or even just folding chairs.

c) Craigslist. I’ll admit, I think Craigslist is wonderful. Free and low-priced used things pop up by the dozesn every day, no matter the area you’re in. Just please, be careful. There’s enough scammers out there to worry anyone’s mother.

d) The Dollar Store. Yea, I said it. The Dollar Store has a ton of things (obviously very cheap) that will suffice for an apartment. I recently went to mine and picked up decent quality placemats, bath rugs, cups, kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies —- again, be careful though. Some things just shouldn’t be trusted from a Dollar Store. (Hint: The can openers don’t work, and the pregnancy tests just look sketchy.)

e) Any general ‘we’ve got everything’ store that buys major ad time during the Superbowl or LOST finale. Yup. This means Target, Wal*Mart, and the like. They’re cheap, usually reliable, and have a wide range of items. Wal*Mart has provided pretty much all of my upstairs bathroom decor.

3) Talk to your landlord about how to set up your utilities. If you’re lucky, your landlords take care of a utility or two, but you’ll still have to handle a few. We discussed this with our landlords about three months before move in, and we got a few helpful hints.  For example, if your main electric provider will be PECO, call and ask for a bill transfer. The fee for transferring the billing to your name is a lot cheaper than the fee you’d get for PECO having to shut down their services in one residence to start them up again in another name.

4)  Find out when everyone is moving in, then make a ‘staples’ list.

Yea, you’re all excited about having your own place, but chances are you all can’t move in on the same day. Find out who is moving in when so you know how much food and supplies you’ll need until everyone is there andyou can work out a fair shopping system.

Here’s where the other items we mentioned above come in – paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, personal hygiene products, pantry supplies, perishable foods, etc. You don’t need to buy enough food for a fully stocked fridge if you’ll be the only one there for a day or two, but at the same time, you don’t want to live off of Pringles and Pepsi. Think ahead as far as what foods you actually eat on a semi-daily basis, as well as how much room you’ll have in your car/van/truck/jet/velociraptor/whatever mode of transportation is carrying your luggage.

5) Pack the car.

Now, I’m incredibly lucky this year, in that about half of my belongings are already in the town I’m moving to [<<insert shout out to awesome significant other and his parents here>>]. Otherwise, chances are you’ll be bringing larger items like a bed, a desk, a dresser, a couch or two, and who knows what else with you, on top of simple personal items like clothing, books, pictures, instruments, a computer and apartment necessities. If you have the ability to put the bulkier items on top of the car, or in the flat bed of a truck, good for you. For the rest of you, this is going to take a couple trips.

However, once the bigger items are out of the way, you may be left with an assortment of other packages and bags, left to pack into a car in Tetris-like fashion.

how do I get 40 square feet of boxes to fit into 20 square feet of space? hmm...where's Hermoine when you need her...

a) Put clothes into garbage bags. I know a lot of moms may cringe out there, but seriously. Stuff it all in there. You can iron/wash/hang what you need to when you get there.

b) Take things out of their packaging. All those $1 items you bought at the Dollar Store – the spatula, oven mitt, wooden spoons? Yea, that weird piece of cardboard with the twisty-ties is just taking up space. Take all of that off and throw what you can (that isn’t sharp or too space consuming) into a bag. Or, if it works better based on the materials available, a box. *Note: Keep in mind you’re going to want to wash everything for the kitchen before you use it, after you’ve unpacked it*

c) Do not be afraid of overstuffing a box. You won’t hurt it’s feelings, trust me. Pack as much as you can into every container, bag, corner, that you can. I’m fairly certain right now I have bath products mixed in with kitchen utensils and my yoga props. [I don't believe in that "items for this room in this box" thing. I have a tiny car.]  Duct tape is your friend, should you find a box is ornery.  Also don’t be afraid to put a lot of your items into any storage container you plan on using  in your new place – trash cans, laundry baskets, etc…etc….

d) Awkward items get special treatment (man, do I wish this applied to people, too). When packing the car, figure out what the oddest-shaped item is out of your sea of belongings. Put that in the trunk first, in a way that allows it to fit and have no extra room around this.

Do this with all of your awkward items (NO BAGS) until all you have left are boxes and bags. Next, pack boxes around the awkward items – open/fragile boxes on top of closed/sturdy ones. Finally, take whatever bags you have left and stuff them where there are any holes in the systematized little blockade you’ve created. Close the trunk, and run in the opposite direction. If you don’t hear any cracks or screams from the neighbors, you’ve successfully packed your car.

Unfortunately, this is where my “expertise” (cough) ends. Perhaps I’ll continue with more tips in the future, when I’m actually living at my new place.  It’s time now to go to Post Collegiate Apocalypse to see how well Colin took the Flyers loss tonight. He’s much more eloquent in his disappointment than I.

Till next time, peace and love—
TjT

"I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of many. Now let's drink up me hearties!"

Yes, the above suave gentleman in the flowing robes and regalia is Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

Kidnapped at the age of 16, Patrick was taken by Irish raiders and used as a slave in a location believed to be on the western coast of Ireland. Under the command of God, he fled captivity and caught a boat to Britain. Once there, he studied and became a priest, and eventually returned to Ireland to Christian-ize the people. Ireland was polytheistic at that point in time (approx. 432 AD), and St. Patrick was one of the major influences in shifting religious views at that point. It was often told that he used a shamrock [with three leaves] to explain the Blessed Trinity.

So I’m very sure that he would be proud of us all today for the way we celebrate the sacrifice and work he did for Ireland and Britain. Even though the entire population isn’t of Christian faith, there is still a large gap to be noticed between what the holiday stands for, and how it is celebrated.

The real reason I’m writing this is due to my disgust with the way our campus handled the holiday, both this year and in the past. I am under no impression that our school is perfectly mature and law-abiding, but last night’s shenanigans leave an awful imprint on our University and on our students.

Besides the drunken droves that I saw on a drive around the boro, there was a large amount of drunken activity on campus. Not only are we still a dry campus, many of these accounts also led into vandalism, paid for by who?

That’s right – the students of West Chester University. Money is allotted every year based off of the amount of vandalism from the previous year, and the only way to keep this fee down [which is applied to all students] is to decrease the level of vandalism from year to year.

note* not WCU student. pulled from Google Images.

Besides vandalism, a large amount of stupidity was displayed last night. People running into cars parked at lights [so "I can sue you!"], people crossing streets in town at busy intersections without looking — there was just a lot of bad decisions being made out in public, which not only reflects the campus integrity negatively within the borough, but leads to very dangerous situations. 

Much can be said for the on-campus situations as well, even just by people showing up drunk to afternoon classes. One particular act that I’ve been hearing from everyone I know is a certain couple who were having sex on the sidewalk outside of the dorm. I mean – I’m already bordering the professional-unprofessional jounalistic line here, but COME ON!

Another point that I would like to identify is the following of Saint Patrick’s Day. I have never seen so much green on campus – whether it was people dying their hair, wearing headbands with shamrocks on them or just dressing in green somewhere on their body — I observed more green in my five hours of going to class than I saw purple and gold the entire Homecoming weekend last fall. And that’s just sad.

Though I am in no way trying to convert the holiday back to its original meaning [that's an undertaking I have no desire to be responsible for] – I just think that we as a college population really need to take responsibility for what we do while on or off campus. I don’t think many people realize how often we, as students, are looked to for main decisions for the school, and yesterday’s festivities don’t exactly show us in the best light.

So please, next year – think a little bit about what you’re doing. And for goodness’ sakes, stay safe.

Oh, did I mention that Saint Patrick is actually British? In this view, we should all be drinking tea every March 17, if anything at all.

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! FACEBOOK TO RELEASE ANOTHER VERSION!

Zuckerberg, Time Magazine's 52nd Most Influential Person of 2008.

Yes, you heard (read) correctly. Harvard grad Mark Zuckerberg is testing out another updated version of his social networking brainchild. But before we get into that – haven’t there been enough versions of Facebook in the past couple years alone? Let’s not forget the site started as a way to get Zuckerberg’s (then college sophomore) mind off being dumped. (What?!)

Again, yes, you heard/read correctly. Facebook started…(wait for it)…as a rebound.

Apparently, Harvard used to have a less-glorified version of the current “Hot or Not” application, where pictures of two resident students would be mashed up against each other, and the viewer would pick the one they found more attractive.

Broken hearts make people do strange things. Check out Zuckerberg’s thought process on hacking into the site to start his own social network: (October 2003)

I’m a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it’s not even 10 p.m. and it’s a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland [dorm] facebook is open on my desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive.

—9:48 pm

Yea, it’s on. I’m not exactly sure how the farm animals are going to fit into this whole thing (you can’t really ever be sure with farm animals . . .), but I like the idea of comparing two people together.

—11:09 pm

Let the hacking begin.

—12:58 pm

[Zuckerberg quotes credit to Rolling Stone Magazine]

And so it began. Zuckerberg called his creation “FaceMash” and spent who-knows how many nights making quick calculations of attraction based off the space between eyebrows and possible acne. Now, somewhere along the line, the name changed to “The Facebook” and eventually just Facebook. Different features were added, like messaging and photo album uploading, and by June 2004, had moved the base of operations to California and was open to most US and Canadian universities.

Now, I opened up a Facebook account in the fall of 2006, when I was a senior in high school. Back then, you could only get an account if you had a verified email address from a college institution (the only reason I had one was from a dual enrollment senior English program at the local community college). The site was relatively simple: you could upload pictures, fill out basic information about yourself, join “group” and message your friends on their profile (though I forget exactly when the term “Wall” came about).

In every year since 2006, a new version of Facebook layoutting and profile enhancers has added to the site’s foundation and reputation. Twitter-like “statuses” ask us “what’s on your mind?” and “applications” like “Bumper Sticker” and “Mafia Wars” recruit more “followers” every day.  [So many quotes...]

All these extra additions to the site put quite a bit of stress on loading connections. For this reason, the new Facebook Lite has been released as a beta testing version. In the screenshot below you can see the simplified version, which focuses on stripping away the layers of applications not related to the intended use of the site as a social network.

Users so far have critiqued it as being similar to Twitter and FriendFeed (which Facebook Inc. recently bought for $50 million – interesting), but the makers deny all these accusations, claiming a rather sympathetic reason for creating the “lite” version.

Despite expanding beyond Harvard campus, Facebook was then still only designed for US and Canadian use. Since then, the site has gone international, though the main base of operations is in California.

Now – since I’m assuming everyone still reading at this point either has a Facebook of their own or knows the general idea of one – who has witnessed the loading problems that have been taking place in the past year or so?

One, two, thr- too many to count.

Now, imagine how that must extend overseas. To take it a step further, imagine the intensity of downloading problems Facebook may have in foreign countries without nationwide access to a high-speed Internet connection. Facebook Lite will serve as a version of the network that’s easier to load and to use.

Though the site is testing in India currently, there are rumors circulating that it will next be opened to Russia and China, says techcrunch.com

Personally, I find the intentions of Facebook Lite pretty sound. However, by the few screenshots I’ve managed to see of the alternate Facebook, it reminds me of the way Facebook used to be before it started adding applications and fan pages. So in a sense, rather than “improving” the site, I see Facebook Lite as the “de-evolution” of the current site.

One final note: I think Facebook Lite will do very well, should it go global. Along with making Facebook more accessible for Internet users with slower connections, Lite will be easier and more straightforward for those in generations older than Zuckerberg.  While plenty of businesses use and reference Facebook, the complexity of the site is hampering to those who’ve never used a tool like a network site before (Example A being my mother, who took 90 minutes to get her account set-up).  Facebook Lite will take away the confusing, unnecessary features while allowing for older users to connect with friends and family in a nearly instantaneous way.
What would you prefer? Facebook Lite or the current version?

Hey – you know what’s interesting?

Today was/is my last day interning at the Express-Times. More exactly, I’m currently in my last hour. I finished my last story this morning, and finished up my last blog about a half hour ago.

What’s kind of cool is that some of my work will continue to be published throughout the summer. I’ve worked on a couple articles that won’t be published in print til late July, so I still have to keep an eye out for portfolio purposes.

Second little tidbit, this may not be the last bit of work I do here. Nothing is in writing, but I’ve been instructed to “keep in touch” and possibly do some freelance work over holidays.

I’m quite excited about that (though I refrained from jumping up and down during those conversations), and am very glad, as well. I really enjoyed working here and, though I’ve learned a lot, feel this is a great environment for a newbie like me to get out into the field and get an idea of how things work out in the “real world.”  Coming back to the Quad in August is going to be awesome, and I hope I can contribute a few new ideas to our own paper.

That being said - in the news today:

Jim Carrey is going to be a grandfather!

Yes, Count Olaf. You're going to be a grandbaby-daddy.

There’s really not too much being released about this yet, besides the short little quotes that he “is very excited” and “Jane is going to be a great mom.” His daughter from his first marriage to Melissa Womer, Jane (21), is a rock musician, forefront of the Jane Carrey Band. She is expecting the child with fiancé Alex Santana, “Nitro” of the band Blood Money.

My only bit with this is that Jim Carrey doesn’t look…old enough, to be a grandfather (with the exception of his past Lemony-Snicket character, which here means ‘man with bad plans for the Baudelaire children who should therefore not be their legal guardian’). And, since I’m sure his on-screen energy transfers into his real life, I’m not sure who would be tired out first from their time together – Carrey or his grandchild.

—–

Also, who’s heard of this “Obama-checking-out-a-16-year-old” nonsense? I have, as well as the seven co-workers who gathered with me around our web editor’s desk to play the video. The video clears up the terrible message sent out through the incriminating photo of Obama reported looking at 16-year-old Mayora Tavares’ behind, shown below:

ABC’s Senior White House Correspondent, Jake Tapper, writes in his blog:

“The president was on a higher step and was stepping down — so he looked down to assure his footing as the woman was walking up the stairs.”

So: poorly-constructed booty glance? Or architecture-based caution? See the video (linked above) and decide for yourself. Either way, check out French President Nicolas Sarkozi in the right hand side of the screen – there is NO doubt that he could be counted guilty of “admiring” Tavares’ ass-ets.

[ps] Worst news title I’ve seen of this so far? “O-bum-a”  *groans, inwardly*

Well, it’s about time to head out – so due to time I’ll end my last Express-Times related post rather informally. Adieu, all of you!

peace&love,
Tara T.

Hello, minions of the World Wide Web!

! I’m slowly beginning to realize just how quick this internship has gone – after tomorrow I only have two more weeks at the Express-Times. Now, I love the Quad, but it’s really been eye-opening working in the newsroom and seeing the difference when your coverage isn’t limited to a four-block radius from your dorm.

So, in our news – earlier this week (Monday night, I believe) I was checking out our website, and found that the Northampton Bureau of our “rival” paper, The Morning Call, shut down. The landlord was furious, saying they “sneaked out in the middle of the night” and “didn’t even turn the lights off.” This was quite a buzz the next morning in the office, but via Twitter I discovered that branch member actually moved out in the middle of last week. However, I haven’t heard much more of this since that day.

Anyway – on to my perspectives on entertainment as of late. In this post:

-Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland: I’m prepared to be obsessed.
-the Jon and Kate drama, and how it should end, immediately.
-Transformers 2: upclose, and off-track.

Alright  – first up is Tim Burton.

The 2010 release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is the winner in upcoming films for “what is holding Tara’s attention.” Anyone who knows me and my gloriously inattentive mind should realize just how ground-breaking a statement like this is.

The movie, set to hit theaters March 5, looks to be a delightfully gruesome take on Lewis Carroll’s novel. I’ve always had an affinity for the slightly strange and sinister, and the Disney version of the film never really appealed to me much (yes, I was a slightly “dark and twisty” kid, whose favorite movie was 13 Ghosts for the better part of my childhood. And anyone remember Disney’s “So Weird” show? Where did that go!?).

So can it really be helped that if I had to pick a “favorite” director, it’d be Tim Burton?  Between “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Beetlejuice” and “Edward Scissorhands,” Burton has directed and produced many of the movies I called “favorites” growing up.

So when the first photo stills released for “Alice in Wonderland” hit the web on Monday, is it too hard to imagine my utter excitement?

As is obvious just through these photos, the film will feature a slew of distinguished actors, many of whom are Burton frequents or veterans. Johnny Depp, reported to have developed an accent for the role solely described as “indescribable,” forms the Mad Hatter. Burton’s long-time love interest, Helena Bodham-Carter plays the grossly out-of-proportion Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway changes (hair) colors to become her delightfully eccentric sister, the White Queen, in her Burton film debut.

The star-studded cast list also includes Alan Rickman (“Harry Potter,” “Love, Actually”) as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar and Timothy Spall as the Bloodhound.  This is the third film in the past few years that Rickman and Spall are both appearing in,* the other two being Harry Potter and (also directed by Burton) Sweeney Todd.
*This statement is based only on my limited knowledge and is considering the Harry Potter films as “one,” so my count could be very wrong.*

Other characters include: the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), the Jabberwock (Christopher Lee), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), and comedian Matt Lucas as the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

The title character Alice is played by Mia Wasikowska, a relatively unknown Australian actress. My main thought concerning this is that she’ll either win over audiences instantly or be constantly overshadowed by the big names that flank her every side throughout the film.

While obviously based on the Carroll novel, the actual plotline and content of the film is written more as a follow up to the book rather than the initial story itself.  The cinematography is also going to be unique to the film.
In a recent interview with MoviesOnline, Alan Rickman discussed the production methods being used to create Wonderland.

“The movie is a mixture of live action, animation, and stop motion, so it’s very complicated,” he says. “I don’t think all three have been put together ever before.”

Though only a few stills have been released thus far, (all of them viewable here), I’m excited to see the trailer and other snippets that Burton will release in the next few months.
—————————————

Ah, Jon and Kate.

What you don't see is that there are about a dozen people in their house right now cleaning and doing laundry. *sigh* I wish I was kidding.

Let me start off with saying there has been far too much publicity on this family. I know stating such on a blog associated with the campus newspaper doesn’t exactly help that matter, but I’d like to justify this by taking the stance of “this is all fairly ridiculous.”

In the past week alone I’ve written two Jon and Kate blogs: One with the spoiler of their “divorce announcement” and another regarding Kate checking off “reasons for divorce” on her legal papers like it was a grocery list.
I have only seen a handful of episodes, and my take on the show is that the kids are absolutely adorable, Kate is extremely phony and pushy, and Jon just doesn’t want to try. It was really no surprise that they were headed towards divorce.
My real issue, here, is that the show is going to continue. Not only are the kids going to have to learn what divorce is and adjust to it at very young ages, but they’re going to have to do it on television after two months of “regrouping.” As I said in one of my Express-Times blogs: two months is not enough time to adjust to a divorce, after eight kids and 10 years of marriage.

Jon and Kate, I’m begging you: Please, take the show off the air, get rid of all the supposed perks of telecelebrity status, and take some time to raise your kids.  However, since that’s unlikely to happen, I’d like to suggest some new possible show titles:
“Jon and Kate seper8″
Jon and Kate + hate”
“Jon – Kate + 8″
“Jon + 8 – mate”
“Jon and Kate + dates”
—————————————–

Now for my last topic. Transformers.
Here’s the thing. Not only was I into weird shows and movies as a kid, I also loved Transformers (thanks to my younger brother). So I was psyched when I heard the movies were going to be made.
Now, I’ve yet to see the full one in its entirety. (Anyone know of a movie that they keep trying to watch and things just always come up? There you go.) What I have seen looks like it could either be awesome or an overload of action effects and clanging metal. But – I pass no real judgment. I’m here to report my opinion on the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
I was not one of the many people who went to the midnight showing or costume contest dressed as Autobots and Decepticons. I went the next day with my brother and some mutual exchange-student friends. The theater was still pretty crowded, which was to be expected, yet there were far too many people who were far to into the film. As in, people who would randomly shout out during fight scenes “Yea, OPTIMUS!! Kick his-”
— You get the picture.
The film, in theory, has a very decent plotline. And I think the actual film turned out equally decent. Michael Bay has this passion of blowing things up, and he definitely has a talent for it. However, just because you’re good at doing something, doesn’t mean you should do it obsessively. I mean, many Lehigh Valley residents were excited to see our very own Bethlehem Steel Factory in the opening sequence, but the combat moved too quickly and was too zoomed in to be able to make out which characters were battling, let alone their backdrop.

Also, the eagerness to show booms and brawls should not take out consistency from the film. In one particular fight scene, Sam and Mikaela were on the run on Sam’s college campus (in a city), and the next scene showed them in the middle of a forest? What?
And oh – Mikaela. Okay, we get it that you’re the film’s “hot chick” and that you’re required to play that up. But I’m starting to seriously think there’s something wrong with your back. I mean – who works on cars and motorcycles standing like this? That can’t be the easiest way of doing things.

You should seriously get that checked out. I’m concerned.

Moving on: I understand this film is supposed to be a bit more advanced and gear to older audiences. But there were far too many crude references, spoken or unspoken, and too many kids under 13 (the youngest I noticed being four or so) for me to not feel a little uncomfortable. Between Mrs. Witwicky eating (and experiencing results from) a pot brownie, Decepticon “Wheelie” aggressively showing, erm, “affection” to Mikaela’s leg, and the twin Autobots, “Skids” and “Mudflap,” are portrayed with possible racial stereotypes, talking “street,” and Skids sporting a gold “tooth.”

My final note: In a brief part of the film, I saw various parallels to the Harry Potter plotline. There’s a point where The Fallen claims he cannot yet try to overtake Earth, until the last Prime is defeated. “Starscream,” a bumbling, wheezy, top-heavy Decepticon, caters to the Fallen, providing him updates regarding the situation on Earth, while showing a fearful reverence for his master. As soon as Optimus is “defeated,” the Fallen shoves the faithful servant aside to go on and be all menacing and evil.

Um. Voldemort-Pettigrew-Potter anyone?

Overall, the film is good, if you’re a Transformers or action junkie. My advice? Don’t spend the $10 for the movie theater. Wait until it comes to Sykes – two dollars feels a lot better than 10 – or (if you don’t go to WCU), wait until it comes to DVD. At least that way you’ll have it permanently in order to watch it over and over. And over.

That’s it everyone – now go check out the rest of the Quad Blogs!
peace&love,
Tara T.

The past couple weeks here at the Express-Times have been pretty typical. At this point I know (what I need) of most of the inner workings of databases and systems, and now it’s a matter of getting better at them and improving my own journalism skills. Which would probably be on par with getting 56 stars tattooed on your face for “activities to put self to sleep.” Oh wait, you’re not Kimberley Vlaminck? Sorry…think instead about watching paint dry. Or rather - just do so.

*waits, semi-patiently*

Anyway, now that that’s over – there’s this nifty little thing I’ve briefly mentioned in a past post: Google Trends.

Basically, every hour or so, that page refreshes, with the top 100 searched terms or phrases. For instance, notable ones as of now include:
75 – the bangles
32 – obama vs fly
18 – obscenity on yearbook cover
9 – iPhone release time

Anyway, it’s really helpful in seeing what’s going on – or rather, what’s occupying people – in the news. I’ve now developed a terrible addiction to this, and putting together lists like the ones above on trends that are both serious and just hilarious.

For instance, on May 28th, around 3:30 p.m., I jotted down this little bit:
52 – red bull recall
48 – learn to fly penguin
27 – robe and wizard hat

And you know what’s really fun? Figuring out a way that they’re all connected. I highly recommend this activity for long car trips, moments of down time at work and when waiting for Jenn to update her blog.

I did so with these trends, but since I work at a newspaper, I felt quite obliged to write the “story” down, which I did later that evening.

And so, without further ado,

Red Bull's mascot, Barry, refused comment on the carbonated clanger.

“Red Bull released a new product this week with the same cans and packaging as regular Red Bull in an under-the-cover campaign to distinguish “real” Red Bull enthusiasts – who would notice the change and enhancement in taste - from the millions of posers who occupy college campuses. As it turns out, secret ingredient-additive #DT26H contains somewhat magical qualities.

“Previous to the new product’s release – which we are now calling Red Bull-OX – that whole ‘gives you wings’ bit was just a catchphrase we got stuck with when our Advertising head Josh McDevin was the only one to pitch an idea – at three in the morning after a considerable amount of liquor. Now, it seems to be the perfect phrase.”

“I was training my penguins for their upcoming show for the zoo,” she says.
“My littlest, Squirtgun, leaped out of the water as usual for his triple-turn skim, but never landed back in the pool. He continued on as if he was swimming in the water, but he was in the air! I thought I was having an acid flash…”

“I wasn’t sure what to think of it,” said shift manager Tracy Yould. “I knew there were some die-hard ‘Harry Potter’ fans out there, but I’d never seen anything like this before.”

After a brief blood transfusion, these three HP fans are back on their broomsticks.

Anyone with information regarding cases and/or side-effects of drinking Red Bull-OX should contact the Washington Theoretical Follies Inc.at wtf@nosir.org or 1-800-285-7648 (1-800-BUL-SMIT).

[/endfakenews]

***Please note this FAKE article does not express the opinions of the Express-Times, West Chester University’s the Quad, or anyone at all, for that matter. All content was written purely for parodic purposes, and on the hopes for a few laughs.***
That’s all I have today, folks. I’ll update again soon, with anything interesting that’s going on around here. [Sneak peek: local Comic Book writers possibly collaborating with Don Murphy for a theatrical film]

[ps] one last note. Add [EXPOSED] on Myspace and check out lehighvalleylive.com on both Facebook and Twitter. Thanks, loves.

peace&love,
Tara T.

Hey all – I promise to explain that statement soon, but notable tidbit – I’m halfway done with my internship?! Whoa. Crazy, man. Also – it’s June! When did that happen!?

In today’s behind-the-scenes Express snippets, I summarize the entire fifth week of my internship. However, for an even more condensed summary, how about….. cockroachdictionarymurderbandstwittertraderjoetrendstaseringgrandma.

Phew. Curious to know what that all means?

Here we go…

It’s time for the epic story of…”The Cockroach”

Monday, 6/1
The time, 11:15 a.m. The place, Express-Times 3rd floor newsroom, in Easton.
It’s been a pleasant morning, I just heard an amusing story about a bear that was chilling out around the area, and then I heard Alyssa gasp.

"Alright people, I expect that Iron Pigs bit to be in by 1:32 SHARP!"

Catticorner to my right, her left, was a cockroach the length of a Post-It note pad, crawling into the abandoned Sports department as if it was about to start running rails.

I looked at it, amused, and started finding something to scoop it up onto. You know, to take it outside and set it free onto the lovely…downtown….Easton…cement.

Once it was out in the open that this poor creature was on it’s way to a misinformed career, those in the area took up very varied reactions. One editor immediately shut himself in his office – door closed. Many gathered around to look at the little bugger. However, one of the more valiant actions was taken up by Bevin, our morning online editor.

Our webby heroine picked up the largest book she could grasp (a dictionary), walked over to the Sports department door frame, and promptly dropped the wordy tome onto the inquisitive insect.

While I’ve no certain love of cockroaches, I’m well aware of the fact that they’re virtually indestructible.

Indestructible that is…against anything except Webster, apparently. Poor little critter had no chance. Or put up no fight.

Now – what does this say about our dear Bevin? She has killed the un-killable, slain the un-slayable, conquered the un-conquerable, mastered the un-master-able!…

Had enough yet? Me too.
All I’m saying is, I now know Bevin is not a force to be reckoned with. And all of my blog posts will be sure to be over 250 words, riddled with links and key words.
Disclaimer: Above opinion was purely for humor purposes – Bevin is quite a lovely lady, and has always been very helpful when I’ve been particularly clueless.

Anyway, though it may seem unnecessary – I want to drive into every reader’s mind exactly what an event this was for the Express newsroom.

When our managing editor got here, he dumped the roach out of the trash that Dustin had decided would be critter’s temporary resting place, and bent down to examine it.
I wish we had gotten a good image of this thing – it was nearly the size of my palm.

Alyssa started making some calls then – turns out the whole basement is infested, but an exterminator sprays, the roaches will fly all about the building. So therefore, I’m keeping an eye out for more of the buggers so I can hopefully get them outside before Bevin catches glimpse.

IN OTHER NEWS…:

The Top Ten:

Braxton Parker was another Philly-based group in the Top 20. However, BP didn't win enough votes to advance

the top ten bands for the Musikfest Mid-Atlantic Band Competition are announced.

West Chesterians may know several groups still on the line-up, seeing half of them are Philly-based:
Dephonic
THE HUSTLE
Jaded Son
Parkwright
Reilly

Cast your votes from now til June 20 – the top four win a chance to play at Musikfest 2009!

Even cooler, the four bands that play at this year’s festival compete for a spot at Musikfest 2010,  along with a professional video shoot!

Trader Joe’s:
Our editor, Jim Owens, brought it to our attention that there’s a facebook group devoted to bringing a Trader Joe’s to Easton. Any thoughts? I personally have never been to one, so I don’t want to lend any information that would be less-than-knowledgeable.

Road trips:
Today I led a chat on road trips. Though the intent was supposed to be about getting advice and seeing what’s going on this summer across the eastern side of the US, it wound up focusing more on LV-based interests, which was certainly neat. Also, check out this week’s [EXPOSED] for a story I wrote on different possibilities for trips based from four directions outwards of the LV.

At least, I hope it will be in. After massive crunching, the story was still at 37 inches (preferred length for a center story being 25-30). Oops.

Small success:
Musikfest’s Twitter account linked to my blog on the Top Ten being announced! Sweet.
I’m also forming small friendships with the bands I’ve been talking to in the competition, which has been really cool.
THIS JUST IN:
On today’s Google Trends:
“If you die what happens to your myspace” [I'm secretly thinking of doing a story on this]
“French women don’t get fat”
“goths in hot weather”
And, currently number 1, 26, and 51 – “tasered grandma”

This is actually just – man. There’s full video and everything.

Apparently, he prefers sugar cookies.

Kathryn Winkfien, 72, was speeding in a 35mph zone (at 60mph), when she was stopped by a local policeman. Apparently, after a brief period of time refusing to sign the citation, she got fiesty and then started sarcastically asking for the paper. The cop threatened to taser her, and then did.

You can view the full raw video here.

A bunch of us here feel terrible for laughing at her moans, but I’d personally like to place her and the grape-stomping lady in a musical duo.

But – seriously! I understand the police force has its own protocol to abide, but since when is tasering such a quick reaction? Especially on someone’s grandmother! I mean, not to disrespect Kathryn, but what was she going to do? Assail him with her purse, filled of family photos, glasses cases and tissues? Ouch. Austin cops can’t take that.

Now, I’m a fairly small person, compared to the typical size of any cop force. At 5′ 3″ I’d barely be much higher than she. But I still wouldn’t find a need to taser her – there’s a thing called patience and respectful politeness that *should* lend key to interactions with “difficult persons” as one may describe Mz. Winkfein.

But that guy – he’s huge (comparitively)! He could’ve just picked her up and carried her downtown.
How unneccesary.

Oh, and please keep in mind: Kathryn is now being held for resisting arrest and has hired a lawyer.

What madness this world is.

peace&love,
TaraT

Okay – my entertainment rant for the week: the “New Moon” trailer.

I did not watch the MTV Movie Awards. Partly because I was attending a burn-your-school-stuff bonfire, partly because MTV proved itself quite capable of ruining music, and I have no intention to see it do the same to movies. From what I’ve heard/read, “Twilight” dominated the awards show – and sadly, I am not surprised.

"Kristin, can we pleasssssseeee take over Antartica next?" "Robby, I told you, I can't stand the cold!"

Yesterday on our website, entertainment writer Dustin Schoof (in a justified reluctant mood) posted a blog revealing the online release of the “New Moon” trailer, which, by this time has been uploaded just about any- and everywhere. Obviously, this does not exclude my own blog.

Now, let me point out the one semi-positive thing I noticed about this trailer before I go full-launch into snarky comments.

The lighting in this trailer is much warmer than the original “Twilight” film’s. Could this be because this movie is more focused on Jacob (the newly-revealed ‘werewolf’ whose body temperature rivals that of a lit stove) rather than cold, sickly pale, statuesque vampire Edward? I think so. Kudos to color symbolism! However, I do find it odd that the trailer is so…bright – when the setting is still in Forks, Washington – the dismal, dreary, ALWAYS RAINING town providing the main setting for the series.

Anyway – onto the demolition.
PS – spoilers ahead, but if you’ve seen the trailer, you know the entire movie already.

Yes, I have read all four (and a half) books, and have a love/hate relationship with the series (most of the hate is directed towards Stephanie Meyer‘s ability to turn poor writing into mesmerizing, must-know-what-happens fantasy). So believe me when I say – this trailer gives away about 98% of the book! (Hence the title of this blog) Honestly, if anyone is too lazy to read the book or sit through the film, all they need is to watch the trailer. Oh, and have someone tell them that Edward comes back.

Start the trailer:

Fade in with instrumental-mystic-emo music.
Edward and Bella at her truck, being all passively-romantic. Next shot shows them at the Cullen household where Alice has put together a birthday party for Bella. All the Cullens are happy, and Bella looks disgruntled and constipated (oh wait – that’s just Kristin Stewart’s inability to act).

"Don't be fooled by my wavy locks and sensitive eyes, I may eat you"

At the party, Bella, being the clumsy ditz as is emphasized in the whole series, slices her finger. Jasper, the newest to their weirdly-metaphored “vegetarian lifestyle” becomes overwhelmed with blood-lust, and in a very non-climactic lunge, nearly devours Bella. Om nom nom.

Next shot: Bella and Edward are in the woods – their creepy, nostalgic, woods that have a surprising lack of underbrush and hikers. They break up. Edward is too overwhelmed by his 100 years of experience in relationships with humans [Wait - what? Exactly.] to let his vampiric family continue to be a danger to her. He then leaves her in the woods, coincedentally is where their (in film) relationship began! OH THE CIRCULAR STRUCTURE OF IT ALL!

Another side note: After a strained-face Edward kisses the top of Bella’s head and leaves her – she is left alone in the woods. Idiot! Leaving a woman because you don’t want her to get hurt, then stranding her in the middle of a forest? Pure genius.

After some time in the fetal position, Bella runs into the Jamaican vampire with a French name who we briefly encountered in the first film. Guess what? He’s a bad guy!
As Bella stands silent and lets this creep caress her hair and face, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) stands (shirtless – start swooning now, tweens) and oh-so-darkly and mysteriously, starts making his way to Bella’s rescue.

Right as Laurent is prepared to kill Bella, she somehow runs away from the superspeedy, overly-lethal vampire, and cries out “No!” to Jacob. Jacob, still involved in his angsty, teenage years, ignores her and poofs – that’s right, poofs – into a…thing?…meant to be a realistic, wolf-like figure.

"KABLAM!" "WHALLOP" "Take that, Edward Cullen!"

I say “meant to be” because, while the transformation graphic is pretty cool – the actual wolf looks too CGI-oriented to fit in with the rest of the film. Might as well add a couple of action bubbles, like from the old Batman stuff. POOF! and DASH! would be particularly effective, methinks.

Oh – by the way. That’s the end of the trailer. Which is not particularly a bad thing.
The main elements of the book are that: A) Edward leaves, B) Bella becomes (nearly) suicidal, C)Bella and Jacob interaction increases, and D) Jacob = werewolf. So congratulations, trailer viewers – you’re completely filled in! Oh, except for the whole introduction to the vampire government, the Volturi – which merely provides more material and foundation for the next two books.

But if you really want to know about the entire plot, stop reading this blog and pick up the book – don’t rely on the film. If the “Twilight” film was any indication, “New Moon” will provide only the parts of the book that are plot-essential or have possibilities for cool cinematography options, to be performed poorly at best.

Well, that’s all on my take – what about yours? Something to think about til my next post: Express-Times cockroach chaos.

peace&love,
Tara

Hello, all! I’m back, spewing more Express experiences to fully satisfy your vicarious journalistic needs!

First off: an important poll!

What is Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s fate at the end of “The Wrestler?”

He’s dead. Get over it.
or
He lives! Yay for sequel options!
[please post answer as a comment because poll tools are being extremely temperamental]

I promise this is work-related. Well, kind of.

Onto the happenings! Only two days in this post, thanks to Memorial Day and its fantastic ability to completely throw off my sense of days and dates.

TUESDAY (<- I wrote that as Monday twice already) 5/26:
-thank you, ewire.
I’ve just learned some absolutely fantastic news. Both “Scrubs” and “Chuck” will return to television next fall season (though Scrubs will no longer be centered around JD/Zach Braff), while “My Name is Earl” and “Kath and Kim” were cancelled.

All I have to say is good riddance to bad rubbish.  “Earl”‘s Jaime Pressly pulls off the “white-trash ho” bit a little too well…which (besides being sadly the most interesting part of the show) may explain why she’s been typecast ever since (coincedentally) “Poor White Trash.”

Also, “Kath and Kim” may have been successful in Australia, but introduce  Molly Shannon to absolutely anything and it’s sure to find it’s way to the chopping block.

We're cancelled? Shucks, I guess that means we should stop hanging out on lawn chairs so much...

-Back to the Express…today I had a meeting with Amy and Dustin regarding the next couple issues of [EXPOSED] – Amy has a lot of vacation time coming up, so Dustin’s being placed in charge. I’m basically continuing on as usual, but I need to figure out my angle for the road trip story.

Wednesday 5/27
-There is a box on Amy’s chair the size of a small dog.
10:02 a.m: The box has been opened. It’s….basically a ton of barbecue sauce.  More than anyone should ever need.

-Today I led a chat (note: CoverItLive = awesome chat hosting program) – It focused on the Musikfest 2009 Mid-Atlantic band competition, which offers area bands spots to perform at the festival in August. Since Dustin gave me partial reign of the [EXPOSED] myspace, I sent out invitations to all the bands via their pages, and a good 6-7 of the 20 showed up. It went really well, and as far as the Quad goes, it’s possible that we could incorporate a chat room in some way in conjunction or separate from our weekly podcast idea.

You can replay the chat here. Yay for sherpas.

To vote in the second round of the competition (narrowing 10 bands to four) click here.

That’s it for today, folks.  Please vote in the above poll, and spread it around to your friends, neighbors, estranged family members, and pets.

peace&love,
Tara T.