So what if the titles of most of my blog posts are death metal song names? I'm not really going to blog about Abstract Art, and if your searching google for posts about Abstract Art, you can turn away now. This title comes from a born of osiris song named Abstract Art, which I am currently listening to. It's sick.
Anyway, back to the real world. I'm buried in work, and owe the government a hefty chunk of money thanks to my awesome year of working my ass off. Sorry to inform you but the times are changing. Hard work doesn't pay off anymore. Hard work simply means you are taxed more because the American Dream is being flushed away right down the toilet. Where are the good old days where people used to sit outside and listened to Jimi Hendrix (Currently listening to Red House by Jimi Hendrix). Jeez, now all today and tomorrow seem to be filled with endless amounts of work. (See why I haven't been blogging much lately). Yikes, the piles of work that life can throw at you really suck sometimes. So if I haven't bored you yet with this abstract blog post, please continue reading.
You've got to ask yourself what's motivating you now, what do you want to do, and are you doing it? If you're not then why are you not? And would it really matter if you didn't do it? Yeah I'm confused too. But I've come to the conclusion that whether or not I do my work, I'm still going to get where I want to go, and so should you. Writing articles for my journalism class, or practicing film techniques, or doing any of the remedial tasks that are assigned to most college students are simply objects in the way to the 'man' finally deeming you mature and fit enough for the real world. Woof.
Lastly, you should be able to identify that my brain is scrambled eggs from the past week of insane work and things to do. So....sorry...I guess. Tomorrow I'm heading off to Concord to fight against the budget cuts, and proposed slashing of unions in New Hampshire. Much like the Wisconsin issues, New Hampshire will surely live free or die tomorrow when the house of representatives vote on the bill. I'm shooting a film tomorrow too in Concord at the rally. Should be fun, check it out peeps. Lata- Cam
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Unrest in the Middle East
AS much as I'd like to dive into all the daily news stories about the middle East, I just don't have the time. I'm not quite sure why each country in the middle East is having a domino effect of unrest, and political rallies, to try and form a coup of the governments.
What I do know, is the world seems to be in the upheaval of some sort of major change. Call me crazy, call me bias. John Hoffmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil, recently came and gave a press conference to my journalism class. It was the closest I've come to the executive business world in my young travels, and his words will be kept with me for a long time. I had the opportunity of asking him the first question within the news conference, and with so much political unrest throughout the world at this time, the questions came out relatively easy. It was amazing. My journalism class had the chance to pick this former CEO's brain. The CEO of Shell Oil during the big oil booms of the Bush administration.
I'm not going to type a giant essay regarding my questions, I already have to type a major news story for my journalism class which I'll publish later, but I'll paraphrase what he said.
He basically summed up the resource wars we are setting ourselves up for and he admitted that China is already building up and taking up potential resources of the future. China and India both will be our biggest competition after 2015, when peak oil hits, and we are finally in the struggle to find alternative resources. Mr. Hoffmeister also spoke about the crisis of clean water, enough land to mine resources from, and the diminishing food levels we will soon experience. What he stated was that what we are seeing in the Middle East (unrest, anger at the governments) stems from the same issues. Food availability, water crisis, and oil distribution. All of these major issues have caused unrest, and will continue to spread across the world as the crises get bigger. That is unless we can do something.
America will not develop alternative fuels or solutions until it has to, Mr. Hoffmeister said. To change our path now, would cost big corporations too much money to shift in a different direction, when there is still an ample amount of resources for Americans to crank out. We can still make large profits, despite a looming concern not too far off in the distance. The resource war engagement with China and India will soon unfold, as well as oppositions from world powers. Russia, France, England, Brazil, America, China, Japan, Germany, and all the major market companies will soon experience crashes, or some sort of natural disaster (see Japan) that will cripple economies across the globe. Not to scare anyone, but modern day examples of resource wars have begun, and you will begin to see the inflation of prices sky rocket within the next few years.
Mr. Hoffmeister informed us of a lot of things last Thursday March 24th 2011 in Keene, NH. A lot of things that may seem far fetched and ludicrous, but I believe he is onto something. A man that has met with the more than a few presidents, and has been to Washington more than a few times, must have clues about something. A charismatic man to say the least, Hoffmeister did not dodge the questions, or feed us some bullshit answers. He was honest, and straightforward. The main message he said to us students, was to arm ourselves with knowledge, because times are coming where that's the only thing that's really going to make a damn in this world.
And I gotta say, I believe him. It's tough to say that we as a nation, or we as a world are heading in a positive direction. I don't think the world will end anytime soon, and I'm not a pessimist, and I'm damn glad to live in the best country in the world, but it's time we started to make things better, and we have to start in this country or other countries will leave us in the dust.
What I do know, is the world seems to be in the upheaval of some sort of major change. Call me crazy, call me bias. John Hoffmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil, recently came and gave a press conference to my journalism class. It was the closest I've come to the executive business world in my young travels, and his words will be kept with me for a long time. I had the opportunity of asking him the first question within the news conference, and with so much political unrest throughout the world at this time, the questions came out relatively easy. It was amazing. My journalism class had the chance to pick this former CEO's brain. The CEO of Shell Oil during the big oil booms of the Bush administration.
I'm not going to type a giant essay regarding my questions, I already have to type a major news story for my journalism class which I'll publish later, but I'll paraphrase what he said.
He basically summed up the resource wars we are setting ourselves up for and he admitted that China is already building up and taking up potential resources of the future. China and India both will be our biggest competition after 2015, when peak oil hits, and we are finally in the struggle to find alternative resources. Mr. Hoffmeister also spoke about the crisis of clean water, enough land to mine resources from, and the diminishing food levels we will soon experience. What he stated was that what we are seeing in the Middle East (unrest, anger at the governments) stems from the same issues. Food availability, water crisis, and oil distribution. All of these major issues have caused unrest, and will continue to spread across the world as the crises get bigger. That is unless we can do something.
America will not develop alternative fuels or solutions until it has to, Mr. Hoffmeister said. To change our path now, would cost big corporations too much money to shift in a different direction, when there is still an ample amount of resources for Americans to crank out. We can still make large profits, despite a looming concern not too far off in the distance. The resource war engagement with China and India will soon unfold, as well as oppositions from world powers. Russia, France, England, Brazil, America, China, Japan, Germany, and all the major market companies will soon experience crashes, or some sort of natural disaster (see Japan) that will cripple economies across the globe. Not to scare anyone, but modern day examples of resource wars have begun, and you will begin to see the inflation of prices sky rocket within the next few years.
Mr. Hoffmeister informed us of a lot of things last Thursday March 24th 2011 in Keene, NH. A lot of things that may seem far fetched and ludicrous, but I believe he is onto something. A man that has met with the more than a few presidents, and has been to Washington more than a few times, must have clues about something. A charismatic man to say the least, Hoffmeister did not dodge the questions, or feed us some bullshit answers. He was honest, and straightforward. The main message he said to us students, was to arm ourselves with knowledge, because times are coming where that's the only thing that's really going to make a damn in this world.
And I gotta say, I believe him. It's tough to say that we as a nation, or we as a world are heading in a positive direction. I don't think the world will end anytime soon, and I'm not a pessimist, and I'm damn glad to live in the best country in the world, but it's time we started to make things better, and we have to start in this country or other countries will leave us in the dust.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
A film project I'm working on.
Process of Maturity (Characters)
By: Cam King
Running Time: 5-10 Minutes
Project Synopsis: the film titled, "Characters" will focus around a group of friends reflecting back on their past decisions while in school. As they near graduation, the real world is steadily approaching them, which in turn is causing this group of friends to ponder their past choices, and think about future choices as well. I will pick their brains and piece it together to create a provocative film.
Project Summary: What is the proposed subject/content of the film?
The content of the film will focus around a list of questions that I will interview a very tight knit close group of friends. Their actions and stories together throughout the past four years has led to many laughs, some tears, and a lot of stories for when they get older and reminisce. I am planning on capturing these folks on camera as they near graduation in an elegant manner. Their youth will forever be immortalized on camera as they talk about some of these stories, and the good and bad times they've had together. Uncensored, and pieced together as each one of these friends is interviewed, will be entwined into creating a stellar piece to look at a very unique male group of friends.
Who will be investigated or interviewed? There is a select group of friends, about eight who all live together in two separate houses. I wish to gather each one of these roommates on film, as they have all remained good friends for the past four years of college. I plan on shooting each interview in under 15 minutes, as a list of about 7 questions has been made to cater to the interesting lives of these young men.
What other locations of materials will you draw from to create the film?
The group of friends and they're houses are unique locations. They have a bar built into their kitchen, and some very unique set ups within their houses. Also, there is a rather large field across from their house, and I believe having a single chair for the intervewees to sit in, would be rather comical, in such a large field. Other locations such as driving around town in a car, or random short shots outside of the house amidst their daily life would be used for b-roll.
(Examples:Photos,archival film, home movies, drawings, artwork, locations?)
Also for the film, I won't be able to just show each interview in it's entirety. I'm going to need a lot of B-roll, which I will hope to achieve after some of the itnerviews are being done. For instance, if one of my friends happens to tell a funny story about the science center, I'd go shoot some nice B-roll shots for filler amidst the interview. Also having my friends on camera outside of their interview is going to be crucial as well. I'd almost like to hide the camera for an hour in their house to get random shots of them going through their daily life. Odd footage of them dancing, will be laughable and be implemented into the film just about anywhere.
What is the style? The viewpoints and memories will be the main points of the film. Each interviewee will not have privy information to what each person is saying. I plan to cut the film in a manner where similar stories will be shared, and I can get different accounts of the same story. I will have to play off from the first interview to the second and third. The style will be fluid, and linked, going from one funny chapter to the next.
What type of storytelling approach will you take? I don't want to be in the film right now. There may be moments where you will see me, or hear my voice, but this film is planned to be one for my friends. An ode to them, and a nice entertaining piece for them to engage each other in without direct contact with each other. The third party (me) will put together their individual voices and the film will come around full circle in the end.
What is the production style? It's going to be observational and expository. Clearly, stories will be exposed on public record and film, and from the viewer of the film, they are going to observe the person's memories, and perhaps have some shared stories, or even similar stories. Everyone can relate to their youth in some way.
What are your ideas for editing/structure/soundtrack? I am not a fancy editor, and for this, I'm aiming it to have more of an old school look to it. There will be quick cuts, and to break up the monotonous of the film, I'm going to have the interviewer's favorite songs accompany the transitions coupled with B-roll footage.
Describe your approach and try to give some interesting examples of the film? I'm taking a huge risk by allowing a free range of speech to be recorded on camera. I know these guys very well, and the things they say will be uncensored. The film will be provocative, not in a sexual way, but clear attempts of discussing perverse things may come up. I'm shooting for this film, whether it becomes ultra provocative, or more of a look-back on those college years, to be a chance for my friends to look at themselves through the eyes of a camera. The pace of the cuts will advance and become faster through out the film, as well as different music segments transitioning us through each memory, and each new interviewee.
What is the potential audience and plan for distribution? This film would serve much more as a "Look at these typical guys in college" rather than plans for this film to be distributed by a major company. If some of these guys end up becoming famous, or well-known, then perhaps this film could makes it way into major distribution markets. But until then, it's doubtful, and will most likely entertain people on youtube, or collegehumor.com
Personnel: Cam King= Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Interviwers: Tim Gombos, Dillon Pierce, Mike Leavitt, Josh Stone, Jeff Provost, Jeff Juneau, Ryan Colleran, Greg Remmey, Colin Bates, Dave Maloof, Tyler Redes.
Project Timeline:
Pre-Production: Getting interviews lined up for the weekend of March 26th and 27th. Also, finishing up the project proposal with any additional feedback. Also, lining up music for the film, and setting up the list of questions. Figuring out what days would be nice to shoot and interview outside during the week of March 26th would allow for some great shots for additional B-roll.
Actual Production: Shooting will occur on March 26th and last through to April 1st. Getting enough footage will be key, but the most important things are the interviews. The interviews will drive the story and also help figure out what B-roll needs to be taken into account, and edited into the film.
Post Production will last until the film is due on April 8th.
Process of Maturity (Characters)
By: Cam King
Running Time: 5-10 Minutes
Project Synopsis: the film titled, "Characters" will focus around a group of friends reflecting back on their past decisions while in school. As they near graduation, the real world is steadily approaching them, which in turn is causing this group of friends to ponder their past choices, and think about future choices as well. I will pick their brains and piece it together to create a provocative film.
Project Summary: What is the proposed subject/content of the film?
The content of the film will focus around a list of questions that I will interview a very tight knit close group of friends. Their actions and stories together throughout the past four years has led to many laughs, some tears, and a lot of stories for when they get older and reminisce. I am planning on capturing these folks on camera as they near graduation in an elegant manner. Their youth will forever be immortalized on camera as they talk about some of these stories, and the good and bad times they've had together. Uncensored, and pieced together as each one of these friends is interviewed, will be entwined into creating a stellar piece to look at a very unique male group of friends.
Who will be investigated or interviewed? There is a select group of friends, about eight who all live together in two separate houses. I wish to gather each one of these roommates on film, as they have all remained good friends for the past four years of college. I plan on shooting each interview in under 15 minutes, as a list of about 7 questions has been made to cater to the interesting lives of these young men.
What other locations of materials will you draw from to create the film?
The group of friends and they're houses are unique locations. They have a bar built into their kitchen, and some very unique set ups within their houses. Also, there is a rather large field across from their house, and I believe having a single chair for the intervewees to sit in, would be rather comical, in such a large field. Other locations such as driving around town in a car, or random short shots outside of the house amidst their daily life would be used for b-roll.
(Examples:Photos,archival film, home movies, drawings, artwork, locations?)
Also for the film, I won't be able to just show each interview in it's entirety. I'm going to need a lot of B-roll, which I will hope to achieve after some of the itnerviews are being done. For instance, if one of my friends happens to tell a funny story about the science center, I'd go shoot some nice B-roll shots for filler amidst the interview. Also having my friends on camera outside of their interview is going to be crucial as well. I'd almost like to hide the camera for an hour in their house to get random shots of them going through their daily life. Odd footage of them dancing, will be laughable and be implemented into the film just about anywhere.
What is the style? The viewpoints and memories will be the main points of the film. Each interviewee will not have privy information to what each person is saying. I plan to cut the film in a manner where similar stories will be shared, and I can get different accounts of the same story. I will have to play off from the first interview to the second and third. The style will be fluid, and linked, going from one funny chapter to the next.
What type of storytelling approach will you take? I don't want to be in the film right now. There may be moments where you will see me, or hear my voice, but this film is planned to be one for my friends. An ode to them, and a nice entertaining piece for them to engage each other in without direct contact with each other. The third party (me) will put together their individual voices and the film will come around full circle in the end.
What is the production style? It's going to be observational and expository. Clearly, stories will be exposed on public record and film, and from the viewer of the film, they are going to observe the person's memories, and perhaps have some shared stories, or even similar stories. Everyone can relate to their youth in some way.
What are your ideas for editing/structure/soundtrack? I am not a fancy editor, and for this, I'm aiming it to have more of an old school look to it. There will be quick cuts, and to break up the monotonous of the film, I'm going to have the interviewer's favorite songs accompany the transitions coupled with B-roll footage.
Describe your approach and try to give some interesting examples of the film? I'm taking a huge risk by allowing a free range of speech to be recorded on camera. I know these guys very well, and the things they say will be uncensored. The film will be provocative, not in a sexual way, but clear attempts of discussing perverse things may come up. I'm shooting for this film, whether it becomes ultra provocative, or more of a look-back on those college years, to be a chance for my friends to look at themselves through the eyes of a camera. The pace of the cuts will advance and become faster through out the film, as well as different music segments transitioning us through each memory, and each new interviewee.
What is the potential audience and plan for distribution? This film would serve much more as a "Look at these typical guys in college" rather than plans for this film to be distributed by a major company. If some of these guys end up becoming famous, or well-known, then perhaps this film could makes it way into major distribution markets. But until then, it's doubtful, and will most likely entertain people on youtube, or collegehumor.com
Personnel: Cam King= Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Interviwers: Tim Gombos, Dillon Pierce, Mike Leavitt, Josh Stone, Jeff Provost, Jeff Juneau, Ryan Colleran, Greg Remmey, Colin Bates, Dave Maloof, Tyler Redes.
Project Timeline:
Pre-Production: Getting interviews lined up for the weekend of March 26th and 27th. Also, finishing up the project proposal with any additional feedback. Also, lining up music for the film, and setting up the list of questions. Figuring out what days would be nice to shoot and interview outside during the week of March 26th would allow for some great shots for additional B-roll.
Actual Production: Shooting will occur on March 26th and last through to April 1st. Getting enough footage will be key, but the most important things are the interviews. The interviews will drive the story and also help figure out what B-roll needs to be taken into account, and edited into the film.
Post Production will last until the film is due on April 8th.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Just Do it. How To Get Motivation.
This is somewhat of a farce. I'l[l totally admit it before you read this. I'm completely unmotivated. I have no idea why, and most people don't when the seemingly get hit with a lack of motivation wave. Sometimes you just lose motivation. It may be a number of things, and you may have too much straddled on to your back, you may be juggling too much. Or on the other side, you may not have enough passion in things.
So how do you get out of that funk? Well if I really knew, I'd be out accomplishing more things than staring at my dirty room and the piles of work/things to do. The WORST thing you can do is to ignore the piles of work, or errands you have to do. Start chipping away, even if it's only grading one piece of paper, or making that one phone call you said you would do tomorrow. Start small. Your parents friends, fellow internet friends all say the same thing, yet everyone wastes a good hour or two on facebook/twitter or e-mail just about everyday.
Getting started sucks, no one likes it at first. Maybe your depressed? Maybe you want to be in better shape? Maybe you want to ask that hot girl out everyday when your getting coffee in the morning. I don't know, and I don't really care. My secret is to just fucking do it. So, instead of wondering or bitching and moaning about all the stuff you have to do to your friends/family/girlfriend/boyfriend I'm going to take this time to tell you to politely shut up and just do it.
I've been guilty of this all of my life, and my family and friends would tell you exactly that. We all gotta grow up sometime, so if your one of those people googling how to get motivation, or how to stop being depressed, Stop here, get out of your chair and just do something. Everyone starts out by taking that same first step. Speaking of which, it's about time I just went and get some work done that I really don't want to do. JUST DO IT! - Peace folks- Cam
So how do you get out of that funk? Well if I really knew, I'd be out accomplishing more things than staring at my dirty room and the piles of work/things to do. The WORST thing you can do is to ignore the piles of work, or errands you have to do. Start chipping away, even if it's only grading one piece of paper, or making that one phone call you said you would do tomorrow. Start small. Your parents friends, fellow internet friends all say the same thing, yet everyone wastes a good hour or two on facebook/twitter or e-mail just about everyday.
Getting started sucks, no one likes it at first. Maybe your depressed? Maybe you want to be in better shape? Maybe you want to ask that hot girl out everyday when your getting coffee in the morning. I don't know, and I don't really care. My secret is to just fucking do it. So, instead of wondering or bitching and moaning about all the stuff you have to do to your friends/family/girlfriend/boyfriend I'm going to take this time to tell you to politely shut up and just do it.
I've been guilty of this all of my life, and my family and friends would tell you exactly that. We all gotta grow up sometime, so if your one of those people googling how to get motivation, or how to stop being depressed, Stop here, get out of your chair and just do something. Everyone starts out by taking that same first step. Speaking of which, it's about time I just went and get some work done that I really don't want to do. JUST DO IT! - Peace folks- Cam
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
My SXSW Overview (For my college news paper)
This year's 25th anniversary of the South by Southwest festival held in Austin, Texas showcased over 2,000 bands and was definitely one for the record books.
With an ever increasing number of people reporting to Texas for the annual gathering of music, film, and other assorted interactive gigs, Austin always has something interesting going on.Voted the 2nd best city in America to live in 2006 by Money Magazine, and #1 College Town in America by the Travel Channel, Austin is looking like the place to be. Also being the mecca of Texas for arts and music, and boasting America's biggest college (University of Texas at Austin has over 53,000 undergraduates) South by Southwest always has the hottest events going on each year. Held every year from March 9th to the 18th, the industries best and biggest upcoming bands always get showcased from all four corners of the country. Besides being in the ever diversifying industry of music, major artists usually show up, and did show up at this years 2011 SXSW.
With over 90 venues to play at, as well as MTV's humongous set up stage, Kanye West, The Strokes, Wu-Tang Clan, Lupe Fiasco, and the new hip hop group Odd Future all made big splashes around town. This year's 2011 SXSW was estimated at bringing in over 20,000 people to Austin. That's almost double in just 3 years! In 2008 Austin had a recorded 11,000 out of towners join the festivities, which helped boost Austin's economy with an estimated $100 million. The list simply goes on for ever when you take a look at all the positive things Austin has to offer.
Now, besides being one of the best kept secrets for massive partying and exploration of new technologies, South By South West offers much much more. The entire Interactive aspect of SXSW holds many keynote speakers who give tips, advice, and hold what are called, "panels" in order to help boost creativity and innovation in today's world. Former keynote speakers have included Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and the primary founders of Twitter. Also, speaking in 2006 was Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. This year's keynote speakers were Seth Priebatsch, and the famous party animal himself, Andrew W.K. Besides attracting famous speakers and entrepreneurs, movie stars are also often seen promoting themselves at different Film aspects of SXSW. Every year the scene changes and more and more prominent figures attend. But the amount of people aren't the only thing changing from year to year.
The sheer number of phone application developers, and video game retailers have also doubled in the past two years alone. With the launching of the highly successful iPhone, many application developers for the iPad, and a number of technology related companies have taken advantage of the Interactive aspects of SXSW. Companies will highly market themselves and compete with each other at the annual Adobe Awards. An event that entertains submissions from all over the world, the Adobe awards showcase the computer industry's tech awards and highlights the years best new inventions. This year's major awards went to small time developers, and even several students who submitted projects from Eastern Europe. Among some of the winners, producers for Late Night with Conan O' Brian walked away with several distinguished awards.
As fun and exquisite as most of the events are, you need a "Badge" to get in. It's mostly the trade-shows, and award ceremonies that you need for. The badges really only get you to the front of lines, and also get you free booze during the whole week and a half of events. The badges typically run upwards of $300-$900 but ensure you into every VIP line at every bar, and into every panel and discussion going on over the ten day span at SXSW. But you'd never make it to every event going on, there's simply too much to do in Austin over these ten days. Plus there's about a thousand free parties during the whole week. It's undoubtedly going to be a good time no matter who you are, or what kind of badge you have, if any.
Don't worry too much, there's always options for low budget travelers. Despite the hotels being booked well in advance for SXSW, you can do what many young adults elect to do and just "couch surf." The new movement that has literally been surfing around the world has eliminated the hazards of trying to book a hotel, and scraping out your wallet is known as couchsurfing. For those who don't know about, it's simply a cheap way to stay at someone's place and make new friends. And despite the worrisome aspects that most people would have with this risky idea, you can find more information at www.couchsurfing.com
Overall, South by South West has plenty to offer. Besides my own epic and mischievous escapades in Austin that won't be published in this news article, I'll leave you with the idea that everything truly is bigger in Texas. The food, the parties,the shows and venues, the free alcohol, the colleges, and oddly, the sky...South by South West is much more than a cultural phenomenon. It's a congregation of young hipsters, the well traveled, the party people, and the ever expanding eclectic youth. The fine tastes of Austin will leave you screaming for more, much as it did for me. It truly is an astonishing city, with more than you could simply hope to do in one trip. You won't get sick of Austin, and you won't get sick of South by South West. It only seems to be getting better and better every year. You can always check out my blog for more personal stories and the interactions my friends and I had at SXSW at my blog. www.camkingsiouxcity.blogspot.com And for pictures please check out my facebook, and twitter @cking1989.
With an ever increasing number of people reporting to Texas for the annual gathering of music, film, and other assorted interactive gigs, Austin always has something interesting going on.Voted the 2nd best city in America to live in 2006 by Money Magazine, and #1 College Town in America by the Travel Channel, Austin is looking like the place to be. Also being the mecca of Texas for arts and music, and boasting America's biggest college (University of Texas at Austin has over 53,000 undergraduates) South by Southwest always has the hottest events going on each year. Held every year from March 9th to the 18th, the industries best and biggest upcoming bands always get showcased from all four corners of the country. Besides being in the ever diversifying industry of music, major artists usually show up, and did show up at this years 2011 SXSW.
With over 90 venues to play at, as well as MTV's humongous set up stage, Kanye West, The Strokes, Wu-Tang Clan, Lupe Fiasco, and the new hip hop group Odd Future all made big splashes around town. This year's 2011 SXSW was estimated at bringing in over 20,000 people to Austin. That's almost double in just 3 years! In 2008 Austin had a recorded 11,000 out of towners join the festivities, which helped boost Austin's economy with an estimated $100 million. The list simply goes on for ever when you take a look at all the positive things Austin has to offer.
Now, besides being one of the best kept secrets for massive partying and exploration of new technologies, South By South West offers much much more. The entire Interactive aspect of SXSW holds many keynote speakers who give tips, advice, and hold what are called, "panels" in order to help boost creativity and innovation in today's world. Former keynote speakers have included Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and the primary founders of Twitter. Also, speaking in 2006 was Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. This year's keynote speakers were Seth Priebatsch, and the famous party animal himself, Andrew W.K. Besides attracting famous speakers and entrepreneurs, movie stars are also often seen promoting themselves at different Film aspects of SXSW. Every year the scene changes and more and more prominent figures attend. But the amount of people aren't the only thing changing from year to year.
The sheer number of phone application developers, and video game retailers have also doubled in the past two years alone. With the launching of the highly successful iPhone, many application developers for the iPad, and a number of technology related companies have taken advantage of the Interactive aspects of SXSW. Companies will highly market themselves and compete with each other at the annual Adobe Awards. An event that entertains submissions from all over the world, the Adobe awards showcase the computer industry's tech awards and highlights the years best new inventions. This year's major awards went to small time developers, and even several students who submitted projects from Eastern Europe. Among some of the winners, producers for Late Night with Conan O' Brian walked away with several distinguished awards.
As fun and exquisite as most of the events are, you need a "Badge" to get in. It's mostly the trade-shows, and award ceremonies that you need for. The badges really only get you to the front of lines, and also get you free booze during the whole week and a half of events. The badges typically run upwards of $300-$900 but ensure you into every VIP line at every bar, and into every panel and discussion going on over the ten day span at SXSW. But you'd never make it to every event going on, there's simply too much to do in Austin over these ten days. Plus there's about a thousand free parties during the whole week. It's undoubtedly going to be a good time no matter who you are, or what kind of badge you have, if any.
Don't worry too much, there's always options for low budget travelers. Despite the hotels being booked well in advance for SXSW, you can do what many young adults elect to do and just "couch surf." The new movement that has literally been surfing around the world has eliminated the hazards of trying to book a hotel, and scraping out your wallet is known as couchsurfing. For those who don't know about, it's simply a cheap way to stay at someone's place and make new friends. And despite the worrisome aspects that most people would have with this risky idea, you can find more information at www.couchsurfing.com
Overall, South by South West has plenty to offer. Besides my own epic and mischievous escapades in Austin that won't be published in this news article, I'll leave you with the idea that everything truly is bigger in Texas. The food, the parties,the shows and venues, the free alcohol, the colleges, and oddly, the sky...South by South West is much more than a cultural phenomenon. It's a congregation of young hipsters, the well traveled, the party people, and the ever expanding eclectic youth. The fine tastes of Austin will leave you screaming for more, much as it did for me. It truly is an astonishing city, with more than you could simply hope to do in one trip. You won't get sick of Austin, and you won't get sick of South by South West. It only seems to be getting better and better every year. You can always check out my blog for more personal stories and the interactions my friends and I had at SXSW at my blog. www.camkingsiouxcity.blogspot.com And for pictures please check out my facebook, and twitter @cking1989.
World Traveler Internship 2011
Whastup Guys! I know I said I'd update you on the past few days, and about the exciting things going on in the world, and over here in the North East. First things first. Libya's at a cease fire. That's great news, maybe there'll be peace over in Northern Africa and the stock market will stop fluctuating, and oil prices will drop back down. Wouldn't that be nice?
Second, I'm back at school and off to the daily grind. I'll try to keep you guys posted with current events, new music, travel pictures, and a few videos (some of them will be mine from my classes). Also, I'll keep you posted on events such as our frisbee tournaments, and film festivals, as well as some cool shows in the Greater Boston Area, I'll hopefully be attending. Maybe it's about time I grabbed a camera and got to work on my photography skills....
Lastly, and sadly, I did not make the top 20 for the World Traveler Internship sponsored by STA. The competition was certainly tough, and it was an honor to be part of the Top 50. I firmly believe I'll get it within the next 2 years. I've just got to have more time to prepare, and get some more experience under my belt. My photography skills are lacking, and so does my writing, traveling experiences, blogging experience, tweeting experience, film editing....The whole 9 yards yea yea....
Anyway good luck to the final twenty contestants. Personally, I'm rooting for Katie Stevenson and Griffin K. STA is a sick travel company and you should all check them out and the hot deals they have every day throughout the year.
Here's there sites
www.worldtravelerinternship.com
www.statravel.com
I'll describe my final few days in Austin tomorrow, although I do have classes literally all damn day tomorrow. But I'll try my best to get you some good info on the stimulating world that is Keene State College, in New Hampshire.
Peace folks!
Second, I'm back at school and off to the daily grind. I'll try to keep you guys posted with current events, new music, travel pictures, and a few videos (some of them will be mine from my classes). Also, I'll keep you posted on events such as our frisbee tournaments, and film festivals, as well as some cool shows in the Greater Boston Area, I'll hopefully be attending. Maybe it's about time I grabbed a camera and got to work on my photography skills....
Lastly, and sadly, I did not make the top 20 for the World Traveler Internship sponsored by STA. The competition was certainly tough, and it was an honor to be part of the Top 50. I firmly believe I'll get it within the next 2 years. I've just got to have more time to prepare, and get some more experience under my belt. My photography skills are lacking, and so does my writing, traveling experiences, blogging experience, tweeting experience, film editing....The whole 9 yards yea yea....
Anyway good luck to the final twenty contestants. Personally, I'm rooting for Katie Stevenson and Griffin K. STA is a sick travel company and you should all check them out and the hot deals they have every day throughout the year.
Here's there sites
www.worldtravelerinternship.com
www.statravel.com
I'll describe my final few days in Austin tomorrow, although I do have classes literally all damn day tomorrow. But I'll try my best to get you some good info on the stimulating world that is Keene State College, in New Hampshire.
Peace folks!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A Public Service Announcement
Here is an editorial I wrote for my journalism class. Lemme know what y'all think!
Apparently we still haven't learned our lesson. After a whole decade of being warned of 'suspicious packages' and unattended baggage, we've still got a ways to go.
You all know what they are. Those damn public service announcements that sound off every ten minutes at every airport in the world. Whether you appreciate them, or find them entirely annoying, you still have to think about it. Why?
How many suspicious packages have been reported to the TSA? How many bombs have security officials actually uncovered lying in some remote bathroom? Who knows the security statistics are, but tragically so, we've just kept piling it on in terms of 'security.'
The TSA has ramped up another recent campaign of their at all security checkpoints at large airports around the globe. The newest measures for you less traveled folks involves the use of chemical detectors. You know, for bombs and stuff.
The sparking of the introduction of the chemical detectors comes after the failed bombing aboard a jet coming in for landing at the Detroit airport. Now we are all required upon the passing through of security to go through these nuclear devices. Oh dear, did that say nuclear?
These 'detectors' blast a persons body with about 200 units of nuclear radiation. Well at least that's what the TSA employee said. Anyway don't sweat it, the average 30,000 foot ride to the edge of space pumps about 2,000 units of radiation into the average person. It's gotta be good for you. Makes you taste like chicken or something.
What're we going to do? Not fly? Not an option. Americans just like everyone else have got to do the hustle bustle when we want to go and explore something new. Or if our names are called to the list of some important business meeting. Well, I guess we’ll all continue with the radiation treatments then.
Here's the real kicker folks, you can always 'opt' out of the full body screening. Yes, as cool as it sounds you don't have to go through them. To get out of the full scan, all you have to do is tell an employee you'd like a personal scan. Instead of being forced into the radiation chamber, you'll get pulled aside. A member of the TSA will glide their hands over you in public view of everyone watching. Nothing like a quick grope or two before flying out to Wichita. But again, this is only to make sure you don't have any chemical or biological weaponry attached to the lining of your underwear.
But back to all the hullabaloo about the airport security measures and frequent announcements. Honestly, how many times do you think you could hear something before your ready to explode. Excuse the slight bomb joke. George Carlin had a funny bit about security in airports. As wise, and all knowing as a man that he was, his stand up comedy act was based around the idea that we are giving up our freedoms in exchange for more security. As very provocative and bold as his statements were, they were in a pre-9-11 era. He might have kicked himself once of twice after that. Which really leads you to believe the ultimate question.
Is it possible that American could ever be attacked like it was in 9-11? Are we positioned for such a tragic loss like we were in 2001? Most people would answer very wisely no.
As much as a slight rant was in order, perhaps those pestering do serve some sort of minuscule purpose, other than to make people just a little bit more miserable for the entire day.And day after that, and that, and the next one....
Apparently we still haven't learned our lesson. After a whole decade of being warned of 'suspicious packages' and unattended baggage, we've still got a ways to go.
You all know what they are. Those damn public service announcements that sound off every ten minutes at every airport in the world. Whether you appreciate them, or find them entirely annoying, you still have to think about it. Why?
How many suspicious packages have been reported to the TSA? How many bombs have security officials actually uncovered lying in some remote bathroom? Who knows the security statistics are, but tragically so, we've just kept piling it on in terms of 'security.'
The TSA has ramped up another recent campaign of their at all security checkpoints at large airports around the globe. The newest measures for you less traveled folks involves the use of chemical detectors. You know, for bombs and stuff.
The sparking of the introduction of the chemical detectors comes after the failed bombing aboard a jet coming in for landing at the Detroit airport. Now we are all required upon the passing through of security to go through these nuclear devices. Oh dear, did that say nuclear?
These 'detectors' blast a persons body with about 200 units of nuclear radiation. Well at least that's what the TSA employee said. Anyway don't sweat it, the average 30,000 foot ride to the edge of space pumps about 2,000 units of radiation into the average person. It's gotta be good for you. Makes you taste like chicken or something.
What're we going to do? Not fly? Not an option. Americans just like everyone else have got to do the hustle bustle when we want to go and explore something new. Or if our names are called to the list of some important business meeting. Well, I guess we’ll all continue with the radiation treatments then.
Here's the real kicker folks, you can always 'opt' out of the full body screening. Yes, as cool as it sounds you don't have to go through them. To get out of the full scan, all you have to do is tell an employee you'd like a personal scan. Instead of being forced into the radiation chamber, you'll get pulled aside. A member of the TSA will glide their hands over you in public view of everyone watching. Nothing like a quick grope or two before flying out to Wichita. But again, this is only to make sure you don't have any chemical or biological weaponry attached to the lining of your underwear.
But back to all the hullabaloo about the airport security measures and frequent announcements. Honestly, how many times do you think you could hear something before your ready to explode. Excuse the slight bomb joke. George Carlin had a funny bit about security in airports. As wise, and all knowing as a man that he was, his stand up comedy act was based around the idea that we are giving up our freedoms in exchange for more security. As very provocative and bold as his statements were, they were in a pre-9-11 era. He might have kicked himself once of twice after that. Which really leads you to believe the ultimate question.
Is it possible that American could ever be attacked like it was in 9-11? Are we positioned for such a tragic loss like we were in 2001? Most people would answer very wisely no.
As much as a slight rant was in order, perhaps those pestering do serve some sort of minuscule purpose, other than to make people just a little bit more miserable for the entire day.And day after that, and that, and the next one....
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The low down on SXSW and Dirty 6th
South by Southwest. You ought to go atleast once in your life. It‘s the biggest baddest music throwing festival al year in Austin. They essentially have three parts. One is for the technologically advanced industry such as new cameras, apple electronics, and everything else you could imagine. Coupled with that, they have guest speakers on just about everything. Ranging from how to make money while traveling, all the way to ‘Why your employees don‘t like you.‘
On a side note please excuse my writing errors, I am using my Austrian friends computer and a lot of the buttons are switched around.
The three main elements, which all last a couple days long are Interactive, which goes from the 11th to the 15th. That is the guest speakers and electronic panel type stuff which most people enjoy attending because it isn‘t super wildyet. Then film part of SXSW starts on the 13th and maybe goes to the 18th or so. It‘s awesome, you see people with camera‘s everywhere filming stuff all the time. I suppose Austin is the mid-west hollywood of sorts. That‘s what I keep hearing atleast. The last big part is the Music element. I‘ve already attended a number of cool concerts. The coolest venue was called the Mohawk, and we saw a band named Mogwee there, and Black Joe Lewis and the....mmm I forget. But it was a damn goodnight.
The two Austrians that are couch sufring here at the same house as I am created this project for theUniversity back home in Salzburg. They made a program that allows them to plug a playstation into a building with giant LED‘s and play guitar hero on it. I‘ll have to find the video for you to see. It‘s beyond cool. Anyway, their panel is over so we‘ve just been going to these free parties on 6th street and meeting so many god people down here. The group we‘ve enlisted so far has got to be over 25 close friends and couc surfers from around the country, and some internationals as wel. Everyone is down here for the sole purpose of SXSW and I feel foolish. I just wanted to come down here cause I heard it was a col place. I can‘t believe how lucky I was to stumble upon the kindness and coolness of al these people. On to the dirty 6th story...
So it was an easy sunday morning, and we had nothing to do. We got a call from our friend Ramon who lives across town, and it turns out a reporter for the local news station heard he was the guy to talk to about couch surfing. Ramon is a constant host to people 'surfing' their way throug Austin. So, Ramon wanted to impress the reporter, and we had a giant party at his house for all the Couch surfers and the reporter loved it. We all got interviewed amidst the party, and after she left, we continued on through the night. But not before we got to 6th street for great bars that gave away free beer al night.
I couldn't tell you the name of the bar, but our crew of 25 rolled in their and danced for about 4 hours atleast, with the help of free beer. I was wearing my celtics jersey and by the end of the night, it was covered in sweat. It was especially cool, a few people from Boston called me out and stopped me. 'They were all like, where are you from???' I guess you could say I made more than a few friends that night.
The last part of the night consisted of Fabian (the Austrian) convincing the remaining four of us to go get Red Bulls. (He works for Red Bull, go figure.) So we grab Red Bulls, and continue running off to more bars. Fabian gets so drunk that al he wanted to do was kiss American girls. Rene (the other Austrian) is documenting the whole thing. Our night consisted of Fabian kissing over 50 US girls on the cheek, mouth, and of course making out with one Grandmother from New Zealand. It was awesome. Check out the pictures on my facebook. I‘m in the process of updating this blog to be much much cooler.
Here is the link for my Austrian friends guitar project. http://artcore.mediacube.at/project-guitars/
I‘ll keep you posted on more SXSW adventures later today! Peace folks! - Cam
On a side note please excuse my writing errors, I am using my Austrian friends computer and a lot of the buttons are switched around.
The three main elements, which all last a couple days long are Interactive, which goes from the 11th to the 15th. That is the guest speakers and electronic panel type stuff which most people enjoy attending because it isn‘t super wildyet. Then film part of SXSW starts on the 13th and maybe goes to the 18th or so. It‘s awesome, you see people with camera‘s everywhere filming stuff all the time. I suppose Austin is the mid-west hollywood of sorts. That‘s what I keep hearing atleast. The last big part is the Music element. I‘ve already attended a number of cool concerts. The coolest venue was called the Mohawk, and we saw a band named Mogwee there, and Black Joe Lewis and the....mmm I forget. But it was a damn goodnight.
The two Austrians that are couch sufring here at the same house as I am created this project for theUniversity back home in Salzburg. They made a program that allows them to plug a playstation into a building with giant LED‘s and play guitar hero on it. I‘ll have to find the video for you to see. It‘s beyond cool. Anyway, their panel is over so we‘ve just been going to these free parties on 6th street and meeting so many god people down here. The group we‘ve enlisted so far has got to be over 25 close friends and couc surfers from around the country, and some internationals as wel. Everyone is down here for the sole purpose of SXSW and I feel foolish. I just wanted to come down here cause I heard it was a col place. I can‘t believe how lucky I was to stumble upon the kindness and coolness of al these people. On to the dirty 6th story...
So it was an easy sunday morning, and we had nothing to do. We got a call from our friend Ramon who lives across town, and it turns out a reporter for the local news station heard he was the guy to talk to about couch surfing. Ramon is a constant host to people 'surfing' their way throug Austin. So, Ramon wanted to impress the reporter, and we had a giant party at his house for all the Couch surfers and the reporter loved it. We all got interviewed amidst the party, and after she left, we continued on through the night. But not before we got to 6th street for great bars that gave away free beer al night.
I couldn't tell you the name of the bar, but our crew of 25 rolled in their and danced for about 4 hours atleast, with the help of free beer. I was wearing my celtics jersey and by the end of the night, it was covered in sweat. It was especially cool, a few people from Boston called me out and stopped me. 'They were all like, where are you from???' I guess you could say I made more than a few friends that night.
The last part of the night consisted of Fabian (the Austrian) convincing the remaining four of us to go get Red Bulls. (He works for Red Bull, go figure.) So we grab Red Bulls, and continue running off to more bars. Fabian gets so drunk that al he wanted to do was kiss American girls. Rene (the other Austrian) is documenting the whole thing. Our night consisted of Fabian kissing over 50 US girls on the cheek, mouth, and of course making out with one Grandmother from New Zealand. It was awesome. Check out the pictures on my facebook. I‘m in the process of updating this blog to be much much cooler.
Here is the link for my Austrian friends guitar project. http://artcore.mediacube.at/project-guitars/
I‘ll keep you posted on more SXSW adventures later today! Peace folks! - Cam
Monday, March 14, 2011
Austin, TX update 3
It's almost true, everything does seem to be bigger in Texas. Let's catch up on the past few days here in Austin.
My third day down here was awesome. Besides waking up after a voracious Friday night exploring the 6th street bars. (They call it Dirty 6th for a reason) My hosts down here are awesome. Besides being such cool people, they are also hosting two Austrians who are participating in the event down here from March 11th to the 20th called South By South West. It's a catchy title for most, but in reality, its a trendy electronic gadget party,littered with free booze and tons music showing throwdowns that lasts for over a week. But after getting to know some more friends and people down here, and I'll say it was a great night, we got back at about 1am. Now, my hosts being the tough Texans they are get up 5 days a week at 5 am to go work a 12 hour shift at a farmers market. This includes the loading unloading, and complete set up by hand. I couldn't wait to wake up in 4 hours and work all day...
It actually turned out to be one of the best days down here. My host Blake and I worked all day and it was super interesting. The farmers market only lasted from 9 am (remember we started working at 530am to setup) until 1 pm. And the farm we were working for does about 4 farmers markets in and around Austin each day. Our market was in a mall parking lot caled Cedar Park, and we made almost $2,000 dollars by selling fresh produce to locals. It was astonishing. Not only did the stand make that much money, but we also traded other people selling goods such as bread and wine stands, in exchange for produce. After 1 pm we loaded the giant truck back up with left over produce and the tents and headed back to the farm. A few more hours of unloading food into the freezers and we were ready to rock and roll. The best part about it was that the owner of the farm gave me the oportunity to come back and work for him. That was nice, but the giant box of fresh produce and bread he gave me really hit the spot. Nothing like a hard days work if you ask me.
I'll blog about my night on Dirty 6th in a bit. The delivery guy just showed up with my chinese food!
My third day down here was awesome. Besides waking up after a voracious Friday night exploring the 6th street bars. (They call it Dirty 6th for a reason) My hosts down here are awesome. Besides being such cool people, they are also hosting two Austrians who are participating in the event down here from March 11th to the 20th called South By South West. It's a catchy title for most, but in reality, its a trendy electronic gadget party,littered with free booze and tons music showing throwdowns that lasts for over a week. But after getting to know some more friends and people down here, and I'll say it was a great night, we got back at about 1am. Now, my hosts being the tough Texans they are get up 5 days a week at 5 am to go work a 12 hour shift at a farmers market. This includes the loading unloading, and complete set up by hand. I couldn't wait to wake up in 4 hours and work all day...
It actually turned out to be one of the best days down here. My host Blake and I worked all day and it was super interesting. The farmers market only lasted from 9 am (remember we started working at 530am to setup) until 1 pm. And the farm we were working for does about 4 farmers markets in and around Austin each day. Our market was in a mall parking lot caled Cedar Park, and we made almost $2,000 dollars by selling fresh produce to locals. It was astonishing. Not only did the stand make that much money, but we also traded other people selling goods such as bread and wine stands, in exchange for produce. After 1 pm we loaded the giant truck back up with left over produce and the tents and headed back to the farm. A few more hours of unloading food into the freezers and we were ready to rock and roll. The best part about it was that the owner of the farm gave me the oportunity to come back and work for him. That was nice, but the giant box of fresh produce and bread he gave me really hit the spot. Nothing like a hard days work if you ask me.
I'll blog about my night on Dirty 6th in a bit. The delivery guy just showed up with my chinese food!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Austin, TX day 2
Hello my fellow dudes and dudettes. I am here writing to you from another beautiful day in Austin Texas. Another intersting fact, Im writing to you from an Austrian computer, my new friends Fabian and Rene also arrived at my couchsurfing hosts place last night, and weve all become good friends. As I could not even begin to tel you what half of these symbols mean on this computer, I will apologiye ahead of time for all the sloppy errors and spelling mistakes. I am positive my journalism teacher would have my head for this, but we will just have to get over it in the mean time.
Where do I even begin? Last night we went over to a smal film fest where a bunch of local couch surfers put on a movie night, where they all screen their own movies. It was realy neat, and I got to witness a Quebec made-film from a 20 year old couch surfer down in Texas. It was realy interesting. All I have done today was go to the gym for two hours and eat some Japanese food. mmm boring.
Onto some more pressing news, my heart goes out to the people of Japan. I heard early this morning about the disaster and tradgedy, and I have already sent e-mails to my contacts over there. I seriously hope they are ok. If you havent seen the news, I highly suggest you go and take a look. It is extremely disastrous and very scary to say the least.
Its only about 3 pm here in Austin so I will probaby do some homework, and then I may go venture out into the night with a bunch of fellow couch surfers. Ill keep you posted on what else is going on tomorrow. Maybe by then Ill have figured out where the apostrophe sign is on this keyboard. Somebody remind me why the z and y are switched again?
Where do I even begin? Last night we went over to a smal film fest where a bunch of local couch surfers put on a movie night, where they all screen their own movies. It was realy neat, and I got to witness a Quebec made-film from a 20 year old couch surfer down in Texas. It was realy interesting. All I have done today was go to the gym for two hours and eat some Japanese food. mmm boring.
Onto some more pressing news, my heart goes out to the people of Japan. I heard early this morning about the disaster and tradgedy, and I have already sent e-mails to my contacts over there. I seriously hope they are ok. If you havent seen the news, I highly suggest you go and take a look. It is extremely disastrous and very scary to say the least.
Its only about 3 pm here in Austin so I will probaby do some homework, and then I may go venture out into the night with a bunch of fellow couch surfers. Ill keep you posted on what else is going on tomorrow. Maybe by then Ill have figured out where the apostrophe sign is on this keyboard. Somebody remind me why the z and y are switched again?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Austin TX day 1
Well hello, after a somewhat atrocious 24 hours of delays, reroutes and several hours of sleeping in the airport I'm here. Austin, TX is awesome, and my firstday here has already eclipsed the abysmal travel issues. I met a cool business guy CEO
Atlanta and we had an awesome talk on the plane about global issues and American politics.
I'll give you a brief update of where I am now because I'm typing this on my iPhone. I slept in the airport till 530 am then took the bus downtown at 6 in the morning. From there I skated to my friend blakes place. It was so warm out in the morning I was astonished. The. I fell asleep for about 5 hours on the couch and decided it was time to explore. I've been on the university of Texas at Austin pretty much all day, and I'm roaming around in this awesome meusem. Is that how you spell it? Yikes. AnywY I don't fit in too much withthe yuppy crowd so I'll leave soon in search of a public computer I can use. The people down here are super nice and I'm looking forward to some weekend activities and more exploring. Maybe next time I'll be lucky enough to update you from an actual computer and not my phone. See ya later folks- cam
Atlanta and we had an awesome talk on the plane about global issues and American politics.
I'll give you a brief update of where I am now because I'm typing this on my iPhone. I slept in the airport till 530 am then took the bus downtown at 6 in the morning. From there I skated to my friend blakes place. It was so warm out in the morning I was astonished. The. I fell asleep for about 5 hours on the couch and decided it was time to explore. I've been on the university of Texas at Austin pretty much all day, and I'm roaming around in this awesome meusem. Is that how you spell it? Yikes. AnywY I don't fit in too much withthe yuppy crowd so I'll leave soon in search of a public computer I can use. The people down here are super nice and I'm looking forward to some weekend activities and more exploring. Maybe next time I'll be lucky enough to update you from an actual computer and not my phone. See ya later folks- cam
Friday, March 4, 2011
Chemistry. No not that kind!
Well here we are, after another tough Friday night Ultimate Frisbee practice. As some of you may know, one of my extreme passions is playing ultimate frisbee. While the legitimate aspects and respects of people who don't play ultimate aren't quite realized yet, the actual players of the sport become so mesmerized by it.
I swear, go watch a competitive game of ultimate frisbee on youtube or something. It is extremely intense. And while the logistics and rules can be quite cumbersome to memorize, and institute into your actual game play of the sport, you will become quite intrigued I promise you. I often believe that my sport, and my passion will become the next soccer of sorts, and many people will play it, as well as professionals hopefully.
The one difficult spot that we've run into here at Keene, is getting out sport recognized and respected. So often other students think we are just some hippie group tossing a frisbee on the quad in our spare time. While the fact remains, that we do do that in our spare time between classes, frisbee is tough to play. And not getting ample gym time to practice our sport and improve ourselves has led us to have a few problems between team chemistry. : (
And that's kinda tough. While the winter blues tend to get most people before March, this winter has especially been tough in our small town of roughly 25,000 people. Hmmmm. If only the 4 feet of snow on the quad would melt already.
This week should be about 50 degrees so just hang in there people. And I'll see you on the quad soon enough ; ) - C King
I swear, go watch a competitive game of ultimate frisbee on youtube or something. It is extremely intense. And while the logistics and rules can be quite cumbersome to memorize, and institute into your actual game play of the sport, you will become quite intrigued I promise you. I often believe that my sport, and my passion will become the next soccer of sorts, and many people will play it, as well as professionals hopefully.
The one difficult spot that we've run into here at Keene, is getting out sport recognized and respected. So often other students think we are just some hippie group tossing a frisbee on the quad in our spare time. While the fact remains, that we do do that in our spare time between classes, frisbee is tough to play. And not getting ample gym time to practice our sport and improve ourselves has led us to have a few problems between team chemistry. : (
And that's kinda tough. While the winter blues tend to get most people before March, this winter has especially been tough in our small town of roughly 25,000 people. Hmmmm. If only the 4 feet of snow on the quad would melt already.
This week should be about 50 degrees so just hang in there people. And I'll see you on the quad soon enough ; ) - C King
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The only precursor to Texas, is my journalism homework....
Howdy y'all!
Ahh well that didn't quite roll off my tongue the way I was hoping it would. But can you blame me? I'm heading to Texas in less than a week and I'm wicked excited but I'm hardly prepared.
While my mind and body are just getting over the illustrious winter hangover of limited sunlight and bitter cold, I find myself gaining focusing more on my spring break than my homework. Now, being a junior in college definitely has its perks of being a cooler, 'upperclassmen' and not having to worry yet about the getting the boot out into the real world. It doesn't mean it's necessarily easier at this point either. Most of the upperclassmen in my first two years of college said they had the most work their junior year in college.
And holy cow, they were right.
Loads upon loads of work assignments has practically soaked my agenda pages in ink. I'd say I'm a pretty organized person, but after taking 20 credits both semesters, my room now looks like a war zone.
What's the problem? Get over it right? Well. Journalism is the problem. But it's also my love, my passion, something I'd continually like to keep doing. It fuels the world, it helps spread the message, it allows us to learn.
But damn it's hard to be a journalism major. Perhaps I should have separated my broadcast journalism and print journalism classes into different semesters. It's to the point now, where practically everything I do is written as journalistically (is that even a word?) as possible.
I suppose before I head off to Texas with a whopping $107 in my bank account, I'll finish the boatload of journalism homework, and endless amounts of editorials. All this writing has got to be helping me improve my blogging skills though right?!
I'll keep ya posted! - CamK
Ahh well that didn't quite roll off my tongue the way I was hoping it would. But can you blame me? I'm heading to Texas in less than a week and I'm wicked excited but I'm hardly prepared.
While my mind and body are just getting over the illustrious winter hangover of limited sunlight and bitter cold, I find myself gaining focusing more on my spring break than my homework. Now, being a junior in college definitely has its perks of being a cooler, 'upperclassmen' and not having to worry yet about the getting the boot out into the real world. It doesn't mean it's necessarily easier at this point either. Most of the upperclassmen in my first two years of college said they had the most work their junior year in college.
And holy cow, they were right.
Loads upon loads of work assignments has practically soaked my agenda pages in ink. I'd say I'm a pretty organized person, but after taking 20 credits both semesters, my room now looks like a war zone.
What's the problem? Get over it right? Well. Journalism is the problem. But it's also my love, my passion, something I'd continually like to keep doing. It fuels the world, it helps spread the message, it allows us to learn.
But damn it's hard to be a journalism major. Perhaps I should have separated my broadcast journalism and print journalism classes into different semesters. It's to the point now, where practically everything I do is written as journalistically (is that even a word?) as possible.
I suppose before I head off to Texas with a whopping $107 in my bank account, I'll finish the boatload of journalism homework, and endless amounts of editorials. All this writing has got to be helping me improve my blogging skills though right?!
I'll keep ya posted! - CamK
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Regrets? Nahhhhhh
Amazing! Simply astonishing are some of the videos on the STA World Traveler Internship site. If you have not checked any of them out, you are surely missing out some amazing people, and should take more than a few minutes to check out theses individualistic young men and women.
So! Unfortunately I have let another week go by without updating my blog entries, but alas, plenty has happened. Where do we begin?
The Middle East is full of utter turmoil, and daily it seems like we are getting reports from CNN of another collapsing nation. All from the start of Egypt. I can hardly tell if this is somewhat of a rarity, or if something truly astonishing is happening here, and we will begin seeing radical changes soon. Either way, I certainly can empathize with people fighting for their freedom. It's gotta be a tough fight. Especially with a lunatic like Khadafy in the president's chair.
Why all the talk about revolutions? and a title post about Regrets? Cause I've been thinking. And yes, on occasion I have more thoughts than your typical, RA, student athlete,skydiving, frisbee player. I've been thinking about what regrets I may or may not have.
After watching all these young hip, cool, trendsters from around the US show off their travel exploits funded by who knows what, I have come to somewhat of an epiphany. Regret's should never hold one back, they should challenge one to take advantage of the next available opportunity. Yes, in all honesty, whether or not I end up winning the STA World Traveler Internship or not, my goal is to travel, eat, do extreme things across the globe, put a smile on my face, and create global friendships through my wild ride of a life. And I'll tell ya, the competition is tough, but despite who wins this thing or not, all the kids that could have easily won, just like the next guy, will go off and do the same thing, cause that's the kind of people that apply for this Internship. Driven Ones.
Song of the Day: Ill Bill- Swordfish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSk9ClkwMwc
P.S. Wish me luck getting into the Top 50 Applicants for the STA World Traveler Internship. Check the Page at www.worldtravelerinternship.com on March 2nd. Much Love- Cam
So! Unfortunately I have let another week go by without updating my blog entries, but alas, plenty has happened. Where do we begin?
The Middle East is full of utter turmoil, and daily it seems like we are getting reports from CNN of another collapsing nation. All from the start of Egypt. I can hardly tell if this is somewhat of a rarity, or if something truly astonishing is happening here, and we will begin seeing radical changes soon. Either way, I certainly can empathize with people fighting for their freedom. It's gotta be a tough fight. Especially with a lunatic like Khadafy in the president's chair.
Why all the talk about revolutions? and a title post about Regrets? Cause I've been thinking. And yes, on occasion I have more thoughts than your typical, RA, student athlete,skydiving, frisbee player. I've been thinking about what regrets I may or may not have.
After watching all these young hip, cool, trendsters from around the US show off their travel exploits funded by who knows what, I have come to somewhat of an epiphany. Regret's should never hold one back, they should challenge one to take advantage of the next available opportunity. Yes, in all honesty, whether or not I end up winning the STA World Traveler Internship or not, my goal is to travel, eat, do extreme things across the globe, put a smile on my face, and create global friendships through my wild ride of a life. And I'll tell ya, the competition is tough, but despite who wins this thing or not, all the kids that could have easily won, just like the next guy, will go off and do the same thing, cause that's the kind of people that apply for this Internship. Driven Ones.
Song of the Day: Ill Bill- Swordfish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSk9ClkwMwc
P.S. Wish me luck getting into the Top 50 Applicants for the STA World Traveler Internship. Check the Page at www.worldtravelerinternship.com on March 2nd. Much Love- Cam
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