People get testy with their campaign sign

In Chapel Hill, N.C., people mean business when it comes to their campaign sign. One man was tired of his McCain/Palin sign being stolen or swapped, so he decided to hook the sign up to an electrical fence power source.

When the neighboord 9-year-old boy came by on Tuesday to switch the signs, he was shocked.

First of all, what kind of 9-year-old goes around switching McCain/Palin signs to Obama signs? This is when you know Election Day is really on the way, when people start sending their kids out to switch signs.

In my opinion, hooking up the electric fence to the sign was a little dramatic, and probably not very safe, but the boy shouldn't have been attempting to switch the signs either.

I think it is ok if people are trying to pass out signs door-to-door, but don't take down the ones people already have up. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so take it down a notch, no one needs to get hurt.

Election Day

One week until Election Day!! Woot woot!

Jennifer Hudson

So Jennifer Hudson, previous American Idol and movie star, has not had it easy these past few days. This blog is a shout out to Jennifer Hudson and her family (even though almost no one reads it). She recently had her mother, brother, and nephew murdered for no apparent reason and she had to confront it while the entire country was watching. Hang in there Jennifer, don't lose faith!

Studio 7 Clip

I can see how the ripple and roll tool would be useful when editing. I don't know how often it would come up while I am editing just these short videos for class but I think it is a good tool to learn. I really like using final cut express and I'm glad I learned how to use it now that I have a flip camera. I will be able to use it even after the semester is over when I am using my flip camera.

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Wii is officially taking over the world, and I love it. I have never been a fan of video games. In high school I wasn't one of the kids that constantly played Grand Theft Auto, DDR, and Halo. I found them to be a boring waste of time that rotted your brain. Until now.
Not only does Wii not just have tons of games, it now has Wii Fit and Wii Music. The game has everyone is playing it. Video games are no longer just for overweight 16-year-boys with no friends. Elderly people in nursing homes are now using Wii for exercise, 40-year-old soccer moms are using it for Wii Pilates, and everyone in between is playing evertyhing from boxing to guitar hero.
I am curious to see if there will be a game that can top the Wii.

Medical TV Shows

I must admit I am a sucker for medical TV shows, but I do find it interesting to see all the different shows that are appearing lately.
1. Grey's Anatomy- I love it, although I do realize that a good percentage of the stuff that happens on that show would never happen in actual hospital. Oh, and all those interoffice affairs between doctors... in a real hospital you'd probably get fired for that, but it makes for an extremely addicting drama.

2. Scrubs- Hilarious. I like Scrubs because they don't really try to act like real doctors for the majority of the show. Basically they kind of just make fun of the medical world and do ridiculous stuff and ridiculous times.

3. E.R.- Overrated! Kick that show off the air, it's been on for way too long.

4. House- By far my favorite. It is full of drama and although they actually do try act like they know what they're talking about, unlike Scrubs, it is still funny. I mean seriously, who doesn't laugh at House? He's a pill popping, sarcastic jerk that is irresistible to watch.

Are voters taking the election a little too far?

So I was reading an article that I found on fark.com and apparently in Pittsburg a woman was robbed at a City Bank ATM. Okay, sucks to be her, but no big deal.

The robber then noticed that the woman had a McCain-Palin sticker on her car and became furious. He then proceeded to carve a "B" into her face. Holy cow... take it down a notch.

When it comes to arguing over politics, this guy took it to a whole new level. My suggestion ... never discuss politics with a stranger. You'll end up will a giant "B" scratched into your face.

Individual Assignment

I did my individual assignment on just the average Tuesday in my life. I took my camera everywhere throughout the day and shot bits and pieces, it was kind of fun to see all the stupid and surprisingly boring things I do.

Miss Teen Lousiana is making her state proud

For those of you who don't know. Miss Teen Louisiana,Lindsey Evans, was recently de-crowned.

Little Miss Teen Louisiana isn't such a good girl after all. She was arrested on Tuesday after walking out of a restaurant and not paying the bill. Oh yeah, and she left her pocketbook behind with her drivers license in it ... and don't forget the 2 grams of pot that were in the pocketbook. Nice job Lindsey, I bet you thought that one all the way through.

Well first of all, who takes their pot into a restaurant? For those of you who are stoners, I would suggest you don't put your pot and your drivers license in the same place. Common sense people.

In a way you do have to feel sorry for the girl. How embarrassing would it be to be de-crowned and have the whole state... and a good number of people throughout the country... know about it?

New movie a rip off?

Some friends and I went to the movie Sex Drive this weekend and found it to be kind of a rip off of Superbad.

I will admit that it was extremely funny and we laughed a lot, but it was very similar to Seth Rogan's movie Superbad.. It was for the most part about young people trying to be cool and for lack of a better word, get a little female attention.

For those of you who were a fan of the hilarious Superbad,, I would recommend Sex Drive to you. It is full of sex jokes and flamboyant humor, with characters making smart remarks toward each other and their lives seem to revolve around getting that "female attention".

In the end, we did find it quite funny and since we went to the matinee it was cheaper, so therefore I thought it was worth the money. I would not, however, recommend the movie if you are extremely conservative.

Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live

I don't know if you heard, but Sarah Palin was on SNL this week. She went on to confront the fact that they previously made fun her. Palin claims she found it funny when SNL made fun of her the first time and enjoyed being on the show to make fun of herself.

I was, however, throughly disappointed. I was hoping she would do something funny or make fun of herself or at least put her foot in her mouth and say something she shouldn't, but none of that happened. All she did was sit there and smile while Amy Poehler made fun of her.

The whole point of guests on SNL is to have them be good sports and make fun of themselves. Sarah Palin was a huge let down, I was looking forward to seeing something funny, and it just turned into her smiling and sitting pretty as she always does.

I was extremely disappointed in the whole thing. Come on Sarah ... be a good sport.

Exam 1

Exam 1 video with Head Football Coach.

How to design a newspaper page

This is Melissa Fose designing a newspaper page for The Collegian. My project group includes Cody King, Laura Lucas, and me.

Almost voting time!

It is less than a month away now. Soon we will have a new President ... holy cow. I am excited to see who wins,I think the end of election campaigns is when it gets the most interesting. Both Obama and McCain have strong aspects going for them. They each bring very different things to the table, but in the end it is just a matter of who can get the most voters out.

Things like McCain having trouble with David Letterman are so interesting to see how they handle things. Or what about the way Obama is reaching out to Republicans just as McCain is now reaching out to Democrats. They are in the final stretch of their campaign and are doing just about everything in their power to get votes, from their party and other parties.

It seems that this has been one of America's dirtiest elections. McCain and Obama love to find eachothers flaws and attempt to take them down. When Clinton was still in the running she was definatly a bit of scrappy fighter, she always had something to say, that's for sure.

The campaign is getting hot and I can't wait to see who wins. I am not going to try and call this election, I couldn't tell you who is going to win, but I do encourage everyone to vote.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie

Madonna and Guy Ritchie are filing for divorce after 7 years of marriage. It's a sad day. The bigger question is, however, who gets the money? We all know that Guy isn't exactly raking in the big bucks anymore, and Madonna is worth a supposed $500 million +. The best part ... there is no pre-nup.

I love celebrity gossip, and when it comes to who gets $500 million, it peaks my interest. For the most part, I am on Madonna's side. Basically, because I adore her and can remember dancing around my living room to my older sister's album of her when I was 12.

In a way I do feel kind of sorry for Guy, his career isn't what it used to be and lately he has mostly just been known as the guy who is married to Madonna. I hope Guy does well, and maybe he'll get a little out of the settlement, he'll need it considering Madonna plans to keep the house.

Baby mama ... again?

That's right, Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant again! How is this even possible, she just had a kid like 3 months ago. Seriously, don't you think you would learn your lesson the first time. When she messed up the first time she didn't just get grounded, she got a child! And now a second one, we'll see how that works out. Even her name makes her sound young. "Jamie Lynn," that's a little girl's name if you ask me, not a "grown up" name.

Brittany needs to buy her sister a book and lock her in a basement. The girl is just turning 17 and she's on her second kid. Maybe it makes me sound like a gossip but I can't wait to see what happens next. As a journalist I should probably not believe the things I read in tabloids or on PerezHilton.com, but I choose to anyway.

Mostly I'm just fascinated by how severely a person can truly screw up their life. When I look at her life compared to mine, I wouldn't trade it for the world. So being a millionaire might be nice, but I'm happy not having any children at the moment. Money isn't everything, it helps, but it isn't everything. I mean hey, I'm a broke college student, but I'm still happy!

Virgin Shark Birth

So apparently a black tip female shark in Richmond Virginia in the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center was pregnant with a shark pup with no genetic male material. Or... as the MSNBC calls it, a "Virgin Shark Birth." How sweet is that!

I'm excited to see more information on the "virgin shark birth" and how it will continue to effect the shark population. Apparently asexual sharks are extremely rare but it isn't the first time it's happened. Where have I been, because last time I checked, I thought that it took two sharks to make a baby shark. Well, either way, it's still very rare and probably will have little effect on the population of sharks.

I told my roommate about this and she didn't seem to think it was any big deal, but I think it's extremely cool. The mother shark died of stress-related complications in her pregnancy before the pup was born.

Well, I think it's interesting, even if everyone else thinks it's just an average day.

Gas prices falling!

Gas prices have dramatically decreased this week as the price of a barrel fell to $79. The retail price of gasoline has dropped by 33.3 cents, setting it at $3.15. Sweet!

I realize that the United States economy is currently in a bit of a crisis and I am aware that that is a big problem, but as far as oil prices dropping, I'm okay with that. I'm a poor college student who is short on gas money and my theory is, the cheaper... the better. I can remember when I was in high school and I could get a full tank and a Coke for $20. What happened to that?

An article from USA Today claims that the market for oil may be starting to stabilize, amazing!

Presidential candidate or celebrity?

John McCain and Barack Obama, have they turned from presidential candidate to celebrity? On USA Today there was an article describing the way that our presidential candidates could possibly be compared to the next "American Idol."

I found this article to be extremely amusing and extremely true at the same time. Did anyone catch Obama's last debate? Holy cow, he had fire and pillars and the works. It looked like a Miley Cyrus concert. I will admit that I can understand that Obama is trying to make it into a big deal and catch peoples attention, but he went a little above and beyond don't you think?

It concerns me that there is the possibility that our presidential candidates have become wrapped up in the shiny sight of fame and forgotten that voters are looking for a President, not a celebrity. I think McCain has done a better job of staying down to Earth and remembering to think of the "regular Joes" in America.

Right now I think the campaign is kind of up in the air. For a while I thought Obama had it in the bag because he has such an appeal to so many people. But McCain on the other hand, has a lot going for him as well. It's important to remember that almost 70% of voters are not youth, the people that actually do come out to vote may be more in favor of McCain. Some people don't adapt well to change, and Obama would be a big change. I personally am still rooting for Obama, but McCain is what people are used to. Another republican old white guy.

The Dow below 8,600!

The Dow has officially fallen bellow 8,600. That is the lowest it has been in 5 years. It is also the one-year-anniversary of its all time high. Holy crap. What is happening to our economy? Hopefully we won't have people jumping out windows like we did the last time the stock market had a big crash.
Because I am 20-years-old, I cannot say that I have a fortune invested in the stock market and I am not currently worried about losing thousands of dollars. I am concerned, however, about student loans. With banks having such problems lately I have to question how I, and my fellow students, will get their loan money.
Talk of the drastic drop in numbers is all over the news, you would pretty much have to live in a cave to not know about it, but something on CNN today caught my attention.
Banks, such as Wells Fargo, where I recieve my loans are getting tighter and tighter about dishing out student loans. Is this going to mean higher interest rates for students? That'll be just great, add a little more money to that debt we'll graduate with.
I'm not going to whine about tuition costs and student fees today because I do know that SDSU is much cheaper than other universities in the country. But, high tuition or low tuition, money has to be loaned out students. When I applied for my loan it was a fairly easy process. Have your parent co-sign, get approved, no big deal. But what happens now?
Don't ask me how the economies problems are going to be fixed, I honestly have no clue, but I know I will keep a closer eye on the status of my loan bank.

Breast Cancer

As I previously blogged about, it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as I was checking my hotmail today I found an article on Christina Applegate and her July mastectomy. She was interviewed about her life after the surgery and what it was like after having such a dramatic change to her body. I found her attitude towards it inspiring.

She admitted to struggling with it but she claims to try and look at the bright side. So in this blog I want to give a shout out to all the women with breast cancer (If anyone reads this). I think what you ladies have been through and the fact that you picked yourself up and moved on is admirable and I don't know if I would have had that strength. You are all amazing women!

I also wanted to inform people that the American Cancer Society's Web site is http://www.cancer.org and they have lists of charity events that will be going on during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, some of which are in South Dakota.

OJ Simpson

So OJ Simpson got himself in trouble again, surprise surprise.
Simpson also managed to have some ironic timing. He was verdict of his kidnapping and armed robbery conviction came 13 years after he was cleared of his charges for murdering his wife and her friend.
I find it interesting that he could really have that bad of judgement. He broke into someone's hotel room, held them hostage, and hired men with guns to go with him. Did he really think he wouldn't get caught?
OJ is finally facing life in prison and I hate to say it but it may be a little bit of pay back. I don't wish prison time on anyone who doesn't deserve it, but OJ committed the crime, and he had it coming anyway. It was only a matter of time before he screwed up again.

Vote!

I think putting this video together was a lot of fun. It was interesting to find how much work goes into something like this.
As far as voting I think it really is important that everyone votes. Not voting is partially just plain laziness. I suppose if you don't know anything about either of the candidates than maybe it's best you don't. I do suggest that everyone try to keep up with the campaigns and remember that your vote really does count. Even if that sound cheesy.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Go Breast Cancer Awareness Month!! For those of you who may not know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My Grandmother died of Breast Cancer before I met her so I have a special place in my heart for doing anything I can to support research for it. I found an article on MSN today about an interesting way to raise money for it.

A hair salon in Lynchburg is putting pink hair extensions in their clients hair for a fee of $10 that goes to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Personally, I think this is a creative and fun way to get people involved in the Awareness Month. Tons of women get hair extensions, so why not throw a little pink in their temporarily? It'll be different, fun, and show that you care.

I also recently wrote a piece for the Collegian about a bike ride that Sioux River Bicycles and Fitness is having on Oct. 11. The bike shop is having a 9 or 25-mile ride to raise money and their will be a women's health program before the ride. Even President Chicoine is going to ride in the 25-mile race. The article will be out this Wednesday so keep an eye out for it and get as much info as you can about the ride.

I fully support Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I encourage everyone to get involved. It's always nice to feel like you made a difference. Even if it's changing the color of a piece of hair or going for a bike ride, you can make a difference. So go for it!

Kids on sugar

An article on Yahoo News explained that 11 different types of cereal carry as much sugar as a glazed doughnut. Holy cow. Kelloggs Honey Smacks are more than 50 percent sugar by weight and on a consumer report of 91 children ages 6 to 16 they poured themselves 50 to 65 percent more than the serving size.

I personally find most children annoying. I can't believe I ever was one, there are very few that I enjoy. They are hyper enough without the sugar, not to mention the obesity problem with kids in America. They do not need a pound of sugar in the morning in order to kick start their day.

My advice, feed your kids some not-so-sugary cereal such as Corn Flakes and sprinkle just a little (emphasis on little) sugar on top to sweeten it up for them. Avoid Honey Smacks and Fruit Loops at all costs.