http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVtMGjFQ2nA
I couldn't get my computer to actually post the video... Sorry about that.

So this video seems extremly irrelevant and "dumb" but I would like to describe the significance. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were probably my childhood role models when I was a developing young child. I loved their personalities, their roles in movies, fashion styles, and everything about them. But a couple years ago, Mary Kate was said to be annorexic. Me, a developing teenager automatically looked at this with pure disgust. How could some one I adored have this disease that defined pure weakness and inability to deal with challenges? And the media sure didn't change my view about her. Instead, it reinforced my idea and just made me completely lose interest in the Olsen twins. So here's a question I would like to put out there. Does the media really positively effect us? Does it really show us the truth in what various celebrities have to face? Why was it that I never seemed to hear something from Mary Kate's side of the story? For once it would be nice to hear her views.

Vagabond

I stumbled upon (literally) a blog today discussing the ways to go about traveling for free. After perusing the list of relatively practical approaches, I read a follow up article defending some of the claims the author made in the first one. (Corresponding websites are linked.)

The combination of these two pieces really put me in a go-do-something mood. I want to be a vagabond! I want to ditch this commercial lifestyle and the "achieve-success-for-future-success's sake" mindset that I've been born into. I want to traverse the outbacks and forests and sands and mountains. I want to revert to the barter system: I want to help people and have them help me. I want to meet new people and return to the world my parents grew up in, where we aren't constantly afraid of trusting strangers. I want to travel with these strangers, eat with strangers, sleep on strangers' couches, and build up contacts from all parts of the globe, covering all social classes and ethnicities. And I want to stay in touch with them. I want to be able to call them up when I get off a train in a random city and have a place to sleep.



I want to have an amazing crowd at my funeral.



Don't call me an idealist until you've read those two articles... and don't call me an idealist after that either. I'll disagree with you, because I want to think it's all possible.

On second thought, I've done it before. The absolute uncontested highlight of my life thus far was my trip to Europe over the summer of 2007. I went with complete strangers and they all turned into great friends. I still keep in touch with a ton of them who live across the country, even my 3 counselors (I just wish I met more Europeans...) I was free that summer. It was a month long but I had such a great time. We slept on the ground and ate only what we could make for 17 people out of a pot, pan and 2 petroleon stoves. It wasn't a comfortable trip, but I can't even describe in words how amazing it was. I guess that is evidence backing the main idea of that second article... I didnt need my "American life" there. All I needed was my nalgene, a few euro coins, and a ride.

Here are a few photos that really ebody this spirit I want to regain.

I'm going to the Netherlands with my sister this summer and I'm going to get the chance to envelope myself in this lifestyle for a little bit (two weeks.) I'm super excited now. But what about after that? I'm going to college, and when I get out of college I'll get a job (doing god knows what...) But what if I'd rather take a break after college? Maybe I should have done it before college... I guess I'll have to wait now. We've all got time.

I guess I'm going to need to start saving for airfare... the rest I want to leave to manipulate on my own when necessary... a few years from now.

URGENT MESSAGE

check this out:

http://www.ronwinter.tv/drums.html

A Life in Music

Everyone has a calling. That one passion that defines who they are. That one obsession that gives them joy and helps them to comprehend their lives and their universe. Not everyone finds it right away, but when they do, they hold on to it forever. For me, that obsession is music.
Music has been a part of my life since before I can remember. My mother is greatly responsible for my musical gifts, and my father isn't far behind. My mother is a classically trained violinist, who studied at Juilliard. My father can't say that he went to Juilliard, but his father and two uncles played first three horns with the NBC symphony under Toscanini. I likely heard the reverberations of Mozart and Beethoven while in my mother's womb. She was auditioning for different orchestras at the time, while pregnant with me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her violin practicing did more than annoy the neighbors.
Although I began piano lessons when I was 7, it wasn't until I was fourteen that I suddenly felt an urge to write music. One day, seemingly spontaneously, I just could not stop hearing music in my head. This was before I knew how to notate music, and so in my desperation to save these ideas that seemed fleeting, I sang them into a recorder. Once I developed the skills to actually write this music down in notes, I signed up with a composition teacher and have been composing ever since.

http://www.last.fm/music/mahlon+berv

Newport, R.I.

take me back to my summers in Newport . . .

I stumbled upon this ad while doing research today. I think the design and message are really simple yet powerful, and I thought some of you (Mr. V-Dubbs) might appreciate it.
I know I'm overdue for a schpeel(sp?) about my trip to New Orleans, so I might as well begin it now.To begin, it was extraordinary, incredible, and amazing.
To be more specific, I had the best time getting close with old friends and meeting new people, as well as experiencing the magic of a truly inspiring U.S. city. There were about 20 people in our group, several of them from Westhill ( Me, Cody, Dan Gomez, Rachel Naumann, Will Hart, James Forde, Alex Sotasonti, and Ryan... I don't remember his last name). We flew in on the Monday of vacation and worked from 7 in the morning to about 4 on Tuesday-Friday, then came home on Sunday. We were able to get an extensive tour of the city, shop the French Market, get coffee and benignets at Cafe Du Monde, attend a Mardi Gras parade, and see an Imax movie about the devasation of Katrina and the destruction of New Orlean's marsh lands.
My favorite part was definately the parade. Everyone was swimming in beads, myself included, and we were really able to understand the vitality and energy that is New Orleans.

The city is still in disrepair in certain areas. There is still work to be done. And I am enthralled to say that I was one of many who went down to rebuild hope and restore New Orleans.

If you would like to see and read more about the trip, you can check out the blog that was created throughout the trip:

www.nola7.blogspot.com

Cody Hart – Always making friends. Sometimes.

The plane ride consisted of jokes, uno, trying to get my Zune to work, and the movie game. Will Hart (relation? Possibly.) and I played the movie game on the bus on our way to the terminal and it carried on all the way to the plane. A man in the back row over heard us (we sat in the 3rd to last row) and he wanted in. He knew his stuff. He was naming movies from the 80’s and from that point on it was a battle. I got him with Scattman Cruthers – Shining with Nicholson. Credit that one to Joe Cordaro. He proceeded to tell me he was a director for film. Immediately, I thought, “damn! No head shot!” However, he later confessed that he was a producer. I thought, “Damn! No head shot!” He then confessed that he was a construction worker! How could he do that to me?! Our chance for friendship died there.
We arrived, yadda, yadda, yadda, and then we woke up the next day at 6:30! That is the earliest I’ve ever woken up at a hotel. All was not lost though since I get to really test out MA BOOTS! They lasted through the day; what a day! Work, work, work, and more work was in store for us. Also, Canadians. Man, all I thought about was showing up those Canadians and believe me we did. Ok, this is how it went down… We got there at 8:00 am and started working. We had 19 people, and at 10 o’clock 30-40 Canadians showed up with matching purple t-shirts and smiles on their faces. Basically they pounded one side of a house with their hammers for 6 hours, while we dug, raked, lifted, hauled, moved, dumped, carried, picked up, built, shoveled, hammered, hauled, shaped, placed, bled, cut, snuffed, rubbed, scrubbed, and worked on all kinds of stuff. With a couple of a couple hour breaks.

A Photo from NO HFH

Liberal Bias?

"Visuals are underappreciated in news coverage," Bucy added. "You can have a negative report. You can have the journalist being opinionated against the candidate. But if you're showing favorable visuals, that out-weighs the net effect on the viewer almost every single time."

Interesting findings on Election Media Coverage, what do you guys think?

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/9993.html

Goodbye Winter

Unlike many of my classmates and friends, I did not travel anywhere over this vacation. I stayed in Stamford the WHOLE time, which, trusts me, really is as boring as it sounds. Although this was a productive and very relaxing week for me, it was very uneventful. Nothing special happened, and nothing out of the ordinary personally happend to me. The one positive thing I did happen to notice while in Stamford was that winter was slowly but surely leaving us until next year. The snow was melty at a steady pace and the weather was almost warm, but definetley not as cold as before. When I noticed these things for the first time, I was overjoyed and appreciated every patch of green (or semi-green) patch of grass I could find. When one day I looked out into my yard and found that instead of search for the green patch, I was actually looking for a pile of snow or ice, I was thrilled and full of hope. I felt the need to note this with the picture attatched to this entry, which shows a good portion of my front yard, all but one small patch showing green grass and the hope for spring. =)

Fireball

This is my old yo-yo I found while rummaging through my closet.  I realized that I have still yet to master the "walk the doggie" trick.....

I went to Austria a couple of years ago for the Salzburg Music Festival. The Music festival is one of the most famous in the world, and it was an incredible experience. I met dozens of fascinating and incredibly talented musicians, composers and proffessors, and it was a truly humbling experience.

You don't go to Europe every day though, so as amazing as the festival was, I didn't want to miss out on the action. The photos above are of our tour guide fom the Ice Caves in Salzburg,
Amsterdam Canals, At the Ice Caves in Salzburg, Austria in 2005, Mozart's House
While in Austria we also traveled to Amsterdam for 3 days which was pretty crazy. We went to the Van Gogh and Rijks museums' which were awesome, and marvelled at the beauty of the canals and the area. There were lot's and lot's of "coffee" shops as well...... it is Amsterdam!

Mahlon piano

this a plaque i found in the middle of my street =)

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txt me l8r! =]

Where to start??
well, my valentines day wasnt as exciting as bet most of your's were because I was in bed extremely sick! yes, not fun at all. Unfortuantly for me I was not able to got to Florida like Sam did or to Mexico like Shivali. I was laying in bed since friday afternoon.. Sleeping. How ever as many people have already metioned, the media never ceases to entertain us with its bizzare stories. Or shall I say, Stamford? Crazy chimps on a lose, another bank robbery, and NCC students now getting text messages getting sent to their cell phones when ever an emergancy occurs. When I finally felt a little better, I went up to Fordham to visit a couple of friends in college. And in a conversation about school (High school vs. College) my college friends told me that they too get text messages when ever an emergancy occurs. Although it is not from their teachers, they all send it to each other. I shared with them how we all get calls home when there is going to be a snow day, or of course when we don't show up to class. But we all agreed that maybe it would be a better idea if the board of ed. would just send us text messages. It's easier and I believe alot faster. Most people live in text messages and a great majority have unlimited. And the board of ed. wouldn't neccesarly have to send them just to us students, our parents of course would be invloved in this long list. It would also make it easier for those parents who get home late from work or get up right before the sun to go to work.. One thing is deffinitly certain, techonolgy is really advancing BIG TIME!

Dreams.

I didn't do much over the vacation. The highlight of it, however, was seeing Ne-yo perform at Radio City Music Hall. This event occurred on Sunday, February 22, 2009 (as you can see), hence the reason why I'm making all three of my posts at the very last minute.

Ne-yo, along with Jazmine Sullivan and Musiq Soulchild, completely took over the stage, creating a very powerful performance. As I watched them perform, it made me wonder if I could do what they were doing. I'm not talking about their talent for singing or having an infinite amount of energy. I'm talking about their ability to get in front of a large crowd of people and speak as if stage fright has completely passed them by. Even though it probably has (and probably has always been that way), I still can't help but wonder if I can do the same. Well, all shy people probably wonder if they can do the same.

The concert has also made me wonder if I could be where they're standing. It seems like a faraway dream; like a star in the sky I can't reach. I guess I'll just have to reach out as far as I can and push as many people as possible out of my way. That seems like a good metaphor for achieving my dreams. I honestly do think that I have the potential, though. Like Walt Disney said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." It sounds cliche, but I have reason to believe that it's pretty much true. Anyone has the potential to become anything they want to be if they put their mind to it. So, I don't necessarily always look at faraway dreams as faraway dreams. Sometimes I think of them as career paths that I can either follow or not follow.

If you're destined to become something, then it's never too late to pursue it (unless you're forty or something). With that said, I think I may truly give the musical career path a chance.

Radio City Music Hall...

Radio City Music Hall

Grand Central Station...

Grand Central Station

Third blog post

This is my third blog post.



























3rd






















blog



































post

Ragin' with the Cajuns pic.

This is me at Sonic.
aka funitorium.

Ragin' with the Cajuns

This February break I went on a trip to New Orleans. I ate food, built houses, saw stuff, and ate some more food.

Ask Stacey about it, she went too.

where i've been

as i reflect here on the eve of back-to-school, i thought i'd also share a quick picture from my fun vacation!

the journey and the jetlag....

Right now, my body is certain that it is 1:40 in the morning, although my clock insists that it's only, in fact, 6:42 p.m. however, i refuse to believe that it is that far away from a normal bed time. i am an unfortunate sufferer of the infamous jetlag, and as i sit here in smelly sweats and contemplate what to write, any clever phrases or funny stories i have are being swallowed up by my useless brain that is functioning on roughly eight hours of coach-section plane sleep, the worst kind of sleep there is.

at 1 a.m. yesterday, i left jerusalem, israel for a non-stop 12 hours flight to jfk, a torturous ordeal that was compensated by the experience i'd had the 10 days before. during my february break, i spent an amazing week and a half revisiting israel after my month-long tour this summer, reexperiencing old sights and taking in the new. my tour began in tel aviv, where i stayed in a beach side hotel with my family, and the 7 other families and couples from stamford on my tour. the view from my hotel looked like this:

after tel aviv, we traveled to the golan heights in the north of israel, where we spent two days living on a kibbutz and touring the hilly area. the trip ended with five days in jerusalem, where we visited the classics (the western wall, the dead sea, etc) along with the bustling muslim and christian quarters in the old city, the ruins of the city of david, and massada, which required a grueling yet worthwhile hike to reach the top. (the picture shows part of the snake trail we had to hike)

in the end though, the headaches and weariness i'm feeling right now are completely worth it. being in israel is an experience i believe everyone needs to have, jewish or not. and in the end, the jetlag is worth the journey.

Nawlins

I just got home from a wonderful trip building a house in New Orleans. Although I did not take as many pictures as I wanted too because we were mainly working all day, there were some interesing shots I was able to capture which I would like to share with you all.

1) The first picture is the Natschez(sp?) which gives steamboat tours of the Mississippi River daily. The river is incredibly massive and muddy.

2) The second one is a shot of a Sonic....which we never see up north. I had no idea how they worked. You order from your car, or the table. You don't even go into the restaurant. crazy.

A Youtube Video That's Actually Funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-g8ZLGU-4

:)

The Stimulus Monkey

So, I'm going to apologize in advance for yet another post in reference to the chimpanzee incident. However, I feel the need to respond to all the controversy surrounding the comic that The New York Post printed, The Stimulus Monkey. I first heard about it while I was in Storrs, visiting my sister at University of Connecticut. There was an article about the comic, and a poll conducted on whether the student body thought that the comic was an insult to President Obama.

Personally, after first seeing the comic, I was shocked. I immediately thought back to when calling an African- American a monkey was a racial slur. While I sincerely hope that The New York Post would not ever try to print a comic intended to be insulting to our own president, I am not sure if they are completely without fault. Why bring up the stimulus bill then? Is it just a coincidence that President Obama recently signed that bill?

Furthermore, I am a bit appalled at the fact that some people feel comfortable with the comic. I was under the impression that we have moved dramatically past the differences between skin colors. Maybe I was wrong.

Lisa k. - south street in philadelphia

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Wires cutting through the Green Mountains of central Vermont

For as long as I can remember, I've noticed these wires. We'd be crossing some secluded area in northern New York State or rural Virginia, and from the back seat of the car I'd look out at the wires cutting across the landscape. It was always the same; they'd be marked by a vast, unnatural opening of trees and awkwardly large structures to maintain the line. The Earth was reshaped to make room for these giant conductors that stretched long past the horizon.

You just never think about these things when you're sitting at home by a computer. You turn a light on and it goes on. You pick up the phone and hear a dial tone. If your internet goes out and you curse at your crappy connection. You don't think about the thousands of miles of wire that lay beneath the ocean or cross the skies, you don't think about the electric plant that supplies you with the energy you need to survive. It's so bright in the skies these days that you can't even look up to see the satellites that have replaced the stars.

It took six tries to lay the first transatlantic telegraph wire. For nine years, the US and Great Britain invested millions of (19th century, remember inflation) dollars in an attempt to connect the Western world. And the day that it happened, people throughout the civilized world danced in the streets.

It's natural to become complacent about these things, but it just makes you wonder, how far will we go, and at what cost?

From the exact same small town in Mexico...

Shivali was not the only one to spend time in Mexico this vacation... This picture was taken from the back of a moving van as I travelled into the Mayan jungle to go canoeing, repelling, zip lining, hiking, etc. I travelled with the Oakes family (yay Alli Oakes!), and a guide took us to a VERY secluded town which could only be accessed by a very long, straight road (hence the image above).

Once we got into the little villiage compound it became clear that the locals had a very different standard of living than I am used to. Houses had no running water and were made out of wood or concrete, with the bare dirt serving as a floor. Stray dogs and children just sort of wandered all around. Outside of one house there was even a monkey chained on a leash (I found this especially ironic because once we passed the house with the pet monkey we all commented on how uncivilized/unsanitary it must be, and then returned to the hotel where the NATIONAL news informed us about the crazy chimp in STAMFORD, CT - guess were not as much better off as we thought...). Anyway, the picture above is of the local playground. I thought the rusty "bump ahead" sign in the foreground looked pretty cool in comparison to the dilapidated playground in the background.

Anyone who has ever been to the Lagurdia airport knows that it takes sooooo long to get your checked baggage once you get off the airplane. Alli Oakes and I sat for a very long time waiting for our bags to come, so I decided to document her poor choice of footwear (we went from 78 degrees to 28 degrees) as we sat in the New York airport.

From a small town in Mexico...

On our way to Chichen Itza, my family and I stopped in a small town off the highway to get some food. We finished all the junk food we hoarded from the hotel and were in dire need of some more food to make the long drive with completely foreign music more tolerable.

What was supposed to be just a food stop became something so much more special. We walked into a small alley and found a beautiful market. Most of the stall owners were old and all were descendents of the Mayans. The sold everything from desserts and fresh fruits to clothes and toys. It was easy to see that this area was a major part of the community. There was an undeniable look of sadness on the workers’ faces. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to see local life in a non-commercial area of Mexico.

When we reached Chichen Itza, we came across a structure with 1,000 pillars. This to the right was what used to be the Mayan marketplace. It is interesting to compare the two and just imagine how life has changed for a civilization of people over the last 2,000 years. I noticed that there was actually very little change to the lifestyle here as opposed to the American lifestyle which has become so much more decadent.

I just thought this was cute.

Our local "news"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoiKMxSUCw

Quite Interesting :) 

Ashley G.

Happiness is a Warm Gun

On February 19th, 2009 Just Books held an event for Alice Schroeder, the author of Snowball, a biography on Warren Buffet. The event was held at a very modern furniture store right on Greenwich Avenue. My coworker and I were taking down names of all the members of the Junior League, which in other words is a club for the very VERY rich and bored women of Greenwich. Now this was our second event with Alice but at this one Warren was not present and we were also not at a museum, so now we were actually included in the event and not pushed to the side. As the short hand on the clock reached seven, and the long hand reached the thirty, it became very quite. The 200 people in that room suddenly became still and focused. As I handed Alice the microphone, a huge diamond ring blinded me. I just rolled my eyes because the ring was not just noticed by me but by some of the money thirsty wives in the corner. She began talking about all of her lunch ins with Mr. Buffet and all of the fancy things she got on Christmas from him. When question and answer time came, a middle age woman asked, "It has been reported that Mr. Buffet wont leave any money for his children, is that really going to happen?" And the answer. "Well, he plans on leaving about 10 million for each child, which I don't agree with because he has billions of dollars. He should give his kids enough so they don't have to work and can do anything that they want." I sat there with my mouth hanging to the floor. Earlier that day when I woke up, I watched a documentary called, Born into Brothels, which was basically about children in India living in the red light district, and who didn't really have any way of getting out because there mothers were prostitutes, and in India this is very much looked down upon. This brings me to the point I was trying to make. Most of these women are more concerned about how many diamonds they can wear  or ways they can be better and richer than all these women, than actually giving there money away and there time to people who need it. One little boy in the movie said, "I could have all the money in the world and live in the nicest place but that wouldn't make me happy, I am happy where I am." So, why is it that people who already have more, want more, and the people that have nothing are happy?

By: Ashley G.

Lingering questions...

I think it's strange that when Travis went wild, the only way Sandra Herold could subdue him was by repeatedly stabbing him with a kitchen knife. She should have had a tranquilizer gun... or at least a taser. MAYBE this should be investigated more closely as homicide... just saying.

*cue conspiracy music*

I also think this blog has given the monkey situation too much attention... Let us move onwards.




BTW VW: This blog is set to Californian time, and though I can relate with your current mindset... stop teasing us. It ought to be EST -5:00.

February 21: A Day That May (Or May Not...?) Live in Infamy

Today is February 21...let's check out some important things that have happened on this day over the last few centuries.

On this day in...

1440, the Prussian Confederation was formed. For those of us who take or will take European History...this means that the long, confusing line of Fredericks began on this day. Oh joy :)

1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto. This 86-page (depending on the Publisher...there are some nifty editions on Amazon in case you're interested) title lays out the various tenets of Communism, which would eventually become the major conflict in the Cold War between the US and USSR. For further information see Barack Obama's website (JK!).

1918, the last Carolina parakeet died at the Cincinnati Zoo. This is actually false, and the last one died in 1994 when Lloyd and Harry's pet parakeet lost its head to the whim of a madman in the classic film, Dumb and Dumber. "Pretty bird..."

1948, NASCAR was incorporated. I read somewhere that NASCAR racing is the most popular sport in America, but I have to bite my thumb at that notion. I cannot understand the appeal in watching cars zoom around a racetrack 500 times, but I suppose to each his own.


And that is your historical reflection for February 21.

LP :)

New Look of the Stamford Times

Every Friday I always look forward to reading the Stamford Times. For those of you who don't know what The Stamford Times is, it is an addition to The Advocate printed out every Thursday, delivered on Friday. It is set up exactly like The Advocate except it covers issues on a more weekly level rather than daily. To be honest, I'm not so sure why I enjoy The Stamford Times so much. Maybe because the fact that my parents only order The New York Times and Nowy Dziennik (yes, it is Polish) I have seemed to develop a craving for local news. Anyway, I think it covers the local news well.
So when the mail came yesterday I dug through all my college mail and couldn't seem to find it. But yet, I uncovered some newspaper that resembled the Westword (with the way it was set up) and decided to see what it was. Indeed, it was the Stamford Times. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty devastated to see my beloved paper have a complete new look. Turning to page 2, there was actually an article named "Introducing the new look of The Stamford Times." Reading it I discovered that this was primarily for the "on-the-go" lifestyles of today, making it easier to read with new fonts chosen along with each story on the same page. Most meaningfully, one wouldn't have to fold and "crinkle" the paper as much where now, you read it like a book.
Will this new paper be truley effective? Personally, I got over my grudge after a couple minutes, realizing that it's just a paper and will still have the same news. Additionally, I do think it is now easier to read.
.....Secretly, I believe that the Stamford Times must have read the Westword and realized what a fine paper we have and stole our look. Who knows, the Advocate may develop the look and next thing you know, we'll have the New York Times copying us as well.

Media in Florida!

So, as I was baking away in sun on the beach (obviously) in Florida, I overheard my mom discussing the chimp scenario that occured just recently in Stamfrod. Like Ari's and Craig's post, this issue is probably the most drastic one that I've heard on the news within the past week of vacation. I found it quite an interesting story and was surprised to hear about it while vacationing in Florida. The new was broadcasting this event everywhere. For literally the past two or three days it's been the main story on all the news channels. Now of course i'm not that interested in the news and much rather be on the beach or by the pool, but I've noticed how much coverage the press is making of this story. Personally, I don't feel it's that big of a deal. I mean animal attacks are constatnly occuring. I believe people overall simply shouldnt be allowed to own chimps or any type of monkey. Now i haven't been in Stamford since Monday so I'm not aware of other news occuring in Stamford. However other events the news have been covering has been the whole Alex Rodriguez case, and him admitting to using steriods. Also, the abduction of the little girl Haley (Im not sure of her last name). As I'm typing this, an update on the story is playing on the news in Florida and how sitting of her may have been taken place. I've also seen her picture on AOL news as well. Overall, the media has been broadcating many of the same stories it seems you guys have been hearing up in Stamford.
Unfortunatly the sun is setting in Boynton Beach, Florida however tomorrow is another day.
That's all for now!
-Sam

It's Animal Attraction

It's Animal Attraction

If anyone else has a pet in our class, I'm sure they can understand where I'm coming from when I say that this article is completely and utterly skewed to make the reader think that Sandra Herold had an odd and disgustingly intimate relationship with her chimpanzee, Travis.  No matter that this woman might've had a few screws loose, that doesn't give the "New York Post" or any other newspaper (i.e. "The Stamford Advocate") any right to scrutinize the relationship.  I am relatively certain that most people who have a pet dog can say most of the same things that Herold said about her chimp.  Let's go through the list: 

1. Fed him high quality foods

--I can't tell how many times my family and I have given leftover steak or any other food to our dog after our meal was finished

2. Shared glasses of wine

--Okay, well that's one thing that is weird, but chimps are one of human's closest relatives, so it's not that out of the ordinary

3. Bathed and slept together

--We bring our dog to have a bath once every five weeks, but sometimes he gets ridiculously dirty between those weeks, so I bring him in the bath and clean him up.  As for sleeping, I invite my dog onto my bed or couch daily

4. He tenderly brushed her hair

--Again, the chimp is very close to being human, there just aren't many animals in the world capable of doing that

5. She gave him gifts and sweet kisses

--My family and I give our dog treats all the time, and sometimes, yes, even kiss him

Some sources are even criticizing how protective the chimp was over Herold when he attacked her friend.  When a dog sees someone that he does not recognize, does he not bark and seemingly go a little crazy?

So besides all of the odd circumstances of what happened over the week, can't people just put this idea of an overly intimate relationship to rest? This is irresponsible journalism at its height.

Craig T

Stamford Bank Robbery

So another local story, but a little different from Ari's. Today I was driving around downtown with my dad, just getting some hours in as my license test is on it's way! Anyway, we were heading up north as I was on my way home and I couldn't help but notice all the different police cars and such around the banks. Of course, as soon as I came home I turned on News 12 Connecticut to see what was happening. Once again, they didn't fail to displease me as I saw stories about Stew Leonard's wonderful working conditions and on a more international level, Usher was released from Brazil? These stories were not what I was looking for so it wasn't long before I clicked off the tv and checked online. To test my luck, I went on the News 12 Connecticut and after a brief search, I found information about a bank robbery at First County Bank on High Ridge Road. My mom came home shortly after, confirming this as she was around the area at 12 noon (around the time that the robbery happened). So, did the media do a good job at covering this story? Really, I think it wasn't too bad. Obviousily this local story can't have everything out within 3 hours but at least there was some information online. Hopefully we'll hear something later on tonight but at least I was able to find a brieft synopsis of the story online. Not much, but sufficient enough for my curiousity.
Here is the link to what I found:
http://www.news12.com/CT/topstories/article?id=226082

Rating, Our Media

Today 12 cop cars, 2 ambulances, and 1 mini EMS truck drove my dad and me off the road (several times, as you can imagine) on High Ridge headed up towards Scofield Town Rd. I was super curious. We were at Nico's Foreign Car Repair (Nico is the man) at the time and the guy seated behind the counter, leaning back in his aged rolly chair, said "you wanna know what's up?"
He continued to tell us that a 200lb chimp attacked a guy up on Rock Rimmon. According to the website he was reading off of, it was "still on the loose" after several attempted shootings.

14 governmental vehicles? a 200lb chimp? (chimp... not gorilla...)
I guess we'll find out soon.
Until then I'm watching channel 12 news, which is, might I add, god awful.


So for today, day 3 of my killer vacation in Stamford, I'm going to rate the media a 5.5/10. 4 points for sparking my interest, 1 point for having SOMETHING online within minutes, and .5 for being eff-ing ridic.

with love, ari


edit:
(1/17/09)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/nyregion/17chimp.html?_r=2&hp0

I guess that solves it.

That Guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-7EKT2GT6A

Everyone knows who "that guy" always is (Mr. Von Wahlde).
FINALLY, a non-Super Bowl commercial that made me laugh.

There aren't enough commercials like this anymore.  They don't focus on reality, the makers focus on their own contrived reality.  Most commercials I see nowadays are about medications in which "normal" people somehow know everything about said meds.  I just wish there would be some creativity to catch my attention every so often, and that's what this commercial did.  And it's not like there was a catch phrase in the commercial that included the name of the jeweler (i.e. "Every kiss begins with Kay"), the commercial just happened to be so effective that I was able to remember the name of the jeweler (Helzburg) , without any aide.  As I said before, I am truly thankful that the company didn't wait for the Super Bowl to release a memorable commercial.

Craig T

That's just how it goes in the Big East...

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290440277

Tonight we saw another exciting Big East contest as the 13th ranked Villanova Wildcats visited the unranked Mountaineers of West Virginia. As has been the recent general trend in Big East basketball, unranked teams have trumped over ranked opponents in conference play, especially with the home court advantage. I am of course alluding to Notre Dame's upset over seventh ranked Louisville on Thursday night, among others.

However, as one of the greatest weeks in college basketball comes to a close, the unranked Georgetown Hoyas travel to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY to hopefully end their current slump and defeat longtime rival. The 22nd ranked Syracuse Orange are a great team this year, led by point guard Jonny Flynn, and have always been a strong home court team, especially when playing the Hoyas.

Let us hope that we don't see a sea of orange flooding the court at the final buzzer tomorrow (as is the tradition for Syrcause fans if they are lucky enough to defeat the Hoyas). Tune in at noon to watch what should be a great game of basketball. It is after all being played in one of the most enthusiastic arenas in the country, in the best conference in the NCAA, for the biggest rivalry in said conference.


I know I'm a huge loser but I really just love college basketball; you all should too. Enjoy vacation :)

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