I'm starting a petition to get new video camera batteries at my school. You can sign the petition at www.HumberCamerasAreTryingToRuinMyWholeLife,GradesAndFutureCareer.com
Though I still hate the camera batteries from my school's video cage, my group was able to film for the project! Make-a-Wish's outdoor festivities froze us and the batteries, so we decided on an indoor event - the Amnesty International Reel Awareness Film Festival. The event turned out to be far smaller than we expected, but we still got some good shots of people mingling and going into the theater. We got some great clips of a speech and two interviews with some of the festival founders.
When we arrived, we were warned that filming the attendees probably wasn't a great idea because some had spouses stuck in foreign jails. Naturally, we filmed everyone and everything anyways. No one cared one bit and the organization had a photographer there getting shots of everyone. Don't bring us down, Amnesty.
The first battery died within minutes, so we all got incredibly worried. The battery that I had been keeping warm in my pocket lasted all night though. SUCCESS!
We finished all of the inside shots and decided to do a sign off/exit shot outside the building to have a change of scenery. This time, the battery worked with us, but Torontonians heckled us instead.
While filming our 30 second shot, we had TWO people bother us. Two in the span of maybe five minutes of actual shooting. The first man was somewhere in his forties or fifties and I'm pretty sure he was drunk before 9 p.m. on a Thursday night.
He said, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
At this point, we all figured he'd ask what we were shooting for and wish us luck. Of course not.
"Do you care that no one gives a shit?"
"Uh....." *blank stares*
"No one's even here. You're not filming anything."
"Everyone's inside, watching a movie. We're just filming for an assignment."
"Yeah, well... Good luck with that," he said as he stormed off.
Sorry for interrupting your drunken stumble around Toronto with our innocent, out of the way filming. Stay classy, my friend.
The next guy was around my age (early twenties), so, needless to say, he was probably also drunk.
"Why are you zoomed in on her chin? Stop macro zooming! You're on her chin."
Uhhh... What? We had perfect framing with our on-screen reporter showing from the waist up to the top of her head. Does alcohol mess with your vision to that extent?
As soon as we finished that shoot, we booked it. We did not want any more crazies approaching us, so we packed up and left. A short while into our walk, a man started to walk beside us. He joined in on our conversation like normal, so we weren't too worried. All of a sudden, he raised his hand and told us about his watch. Apparently, he bought a $3 underwater watch that only half works, whatever that means. His mind told him we'd be interested in knowing this, I guess. I walked ahead so he wouldn't notice the fact that I was laughing like crazy. Another girl slowed down so she could laugh behind us. The last girl was stuck in the middle, listening to a story about the watch.
Soon enough, the man walked ahead, but we were all going to the same subway station. He turned around and asked if we were following him. Not on purpose, bud. Not on purpose.
He proceeded to say, "look at this" and he flashed a blue laser pointer onto his upper arm, showing off some buttons.
Uh...Congrats?
We parted ways and the girls and I went to wait for the next subway train. We just missed the last train and a random woman did too. She used all her strength to smack the support pillars with an envelope full of something hard, making a pretty loud noise each time. THE TRAINS COME EVERY 2 MINUTES, WOMAN. Calm down.
We took the train and a bus (that was SO LATE) back to school, but only got there at 10:05 or so, so we missed the 10 p.m. closing of the camera cage. I only got home around 10:40 or 10:50, but I did get a ride home, thankfully.
And that was my Thursday night in the journalism program.
2011-11-25
2011-11-18
Weird week
I was about to turn my week of journalism into a word, but I couldn't even come up with one word that encompasses all that happened.
Monday was surprisingly amazing. Because I did my story on Martin Lindstrom's appearance at Humber, I was able to go to the event. Lindstrom was appearing twice - once in the morning and once in the evening. I was in class for the first presentation, so I asked to go to the second. I didn't realize that the morning meet was for students and instructors and the evening show was for the top people at Humber and Humber's affiliates. I went to the area where Lindstrom would speak to find a bunch of people in suits. Needless to say, the sweaters, skinny jeans and skate shoes my sister and I wore stood out a bit. I got nervous and uncomfortable, but proceeded with the knowledge that it would be one kickass presentation.
We (this also includes my father) tried to fit in, but just couldn't quite get it right. One woman (in charge of continuing education) came up and introduced herself. She was so nice and I thank her for putting up with our awkwardness. I told her I wrote the story in the paper and she asked if I had read any of Lindstrom's books. I looked like a moron when I said I hadn't, but she proceeded to give me her personal copy of a book. Did I say she was nice?
While we talked, culinary students walked around, offering hors d'oeuvres and wine.. No joke.
Soon, we were all guided towards the Humber Room. This is a fancy restaurant run by students.
The tables had little flower arrangements and the multiple-utensil set-up. I always remember Titanic in these situations - Molly Brown's advice to Jack about working your way in towards the plate has helped me get far in life.
We started eating the fancy little salad (cheese, watermelon, various greens and cucumber) after we were told to dig in.
I'm a vegetarian, so the next course consisted of polenta fries, seasonal vegetables (you know a place is fancy when they say "seasonal"), and zucchini stuffed with cous cous.
The dessert made every bit of awkwardness worthwhile. We ate brownies with whipped cream and crab apple filling. There was even one of those lemon smears underneath it all. I had to keep myself from licking the plate.
Can you tell how much I like food? Anyways, Lindstrom did the presentation after we ate. It was fascinating. If you ever have the chance to see this man live, do it! The information and research he did was so interesting and entertaining. My dad, sister and I don't agree on anything, but we agreed on this presentation.
When he finished (he went over the time allotted, but no one seemed to care), we were told there were gift bags for us at the door. Gift bags!
I figured there would be a few clippings of Lindstrom's New York Times pieces when the speaker said they included samples of his publications. Of course not. The gift bags held Buyology and Brandwashed - Lindstrom's incredibly popular, $20-something, one-of-them-hardcover books. You have no idea how ecstatic I was. Books make me far too happy and these were great ones.
Lololol Those people at the 10 a.m. show have no idea what they missed.
Mingling with Humber's finest was a far cry from Wednesday's happenings. My only class on Wednesday starts at 3:30 p.m., so I decided to work on a project. I went to a breakfast for people who don't have the money to afford food at a local church. I thought I'd see maybe a few people eating their meals, but was surprised to discover there was a basement full of people in need. They looked like everyday people who probably take the bus with me or walk past me on the streets. We've been taught that homeless people all have addictions and clothing with rips and tears. For some reason, I pictured dirty men covered in facial hair. THIS is why I'm doing the assignment. Some of the less fortunate people that come to the breakfast are struggling single mothers, men who've been through bad divorces, people struggling with mental illness, people who've been laid off and people who've come from abuse and broken homes.
Because I was in journalism, equipped with a recorder and a camera in a bag, most of the people didn't want to talk with me. It turned out working for me when one man told me his story of success. He lived on the streets for many, many years, broken by addiction and mental illness. Somehow, he was able to study up on mental illness and overcame it to run for office in the area, write a book and now teach students at various colleges and universities. He still goes back to help others.
The other man encountered financial troubles after a divorce. He went from making $6000 a month to eating free breakfasts out of necessity. He also goes back to help now.
It made me sad to see so many people afraid of what I could do to them. Journalism has such a bad rep, but it's for a good reason. So many would sell their own mother out for a front page story. I'm just not willing to do that... I'll be writing the classifieds for life now, won't I?
My family has decided to volunteer with the organization now and donate clothing to them.
On Thursday, my group for an assignment decided to go film Make-a-Wish's attempt at the Guinness World Record for the largest human star. We found out it was at Don Mills - an outdoor mall - on the first snowfall of the season. I wore my winter jacket, a scarf and gloves and I was still freezing. We started filming and wanted to get it over with. We soon found out that our camera batteries did too.
When it gets cold, batteries die quick deaths. We went from having completely full batteries to having two empty batteries in minutes. We shoved those freezing batteries in between our scarves and necks and we put them in our mittens and pockets to no avail. They regained a bar or two, but those quickly disappeared. We had no choice but to accept defeat. We're finding something indoors instead. Curse you, school cameras.
Monday was surprisingly amazing. Because I did my story on Martin Lindstrom's appearance at Humber, I was able to go to the event. Lindstrom was appearing twice - once in the morning and once in the evening. I was in class for the first presentation, so I asked to go to the second. I didn't realize that the morning meet was for students and instructors and the evening show was for the top people at Humber and Humber's affiliates. I went to the area where Lindstrom would speak to find a bunch of people in suits. Needless to say, the sweaters, skinny jeans and skate shoes my sister and I wore stood out a bit. I got nervous and uncomfortable, but proceeded with the knowledge that it would be one kickass presentation.
We (this also includes my father) tried to fit in, but just couldn't quite get it right. One woman (in charge of continuing education) came up and introduced herself. She was so nice and I thank her for putting up with our awkwardness. I told her I wrote the story in the paper and she asked if I had read any of Lindstrom's books. I looked like a moron when I said I hadn't, but she proceeded to give me her personal copy of a book. Did I say she was nice?
While we talked, culinary students walked around, offering hors d'oeuvres and wine.. No joke.
Soon, we were all guided towards the Humber Room. This is a fancy restaurant run by students.
The tables had little flower arrangements and the multiple-utensil set-up. I always remember Titanic in these situations - Molly Brown's advice to Jack about working your way in towards the plate has helped me get far in life.
We started eating the fancy little salad (cheese, watermelon, various greens and cucumber) after we were told to dig in.
I'm a vegetarian, so the next course consisted of polenta fries, seasonal vegetables (you know a place is fancy when they say "seasonal"), and zucchini stuffed with cous cous.
The dessert made every bit of awkwardness worthwhile. We ate brownies with whipped cream and crab apple filling. There was even one of those lemon smears underneath it all. I had to keep myself from licking the plate.
Can you tell how much I like food? Anyways, Lindstrom did the presentation after we ate. It was fascinating. If you ever have the chance to see this man live, do it! The information and research he did was so interesting and entertaining. My dad, sister and I don't agree on anything, but we agreed on this presentation.
When he finished (he went over the time allotted, but no one seemed to care), we were told there were gift bags for us at the door. Gift bags!
I figured there would be a few clippings of Lindstrom's New York Times pieces when the speaker said they included samples of his publications. Of course not. The gift bags held Buyology and Brandwashed - Lindstrom's incredibly popular, $20-something, one-of-them-hardcover books. You have no idea how ecstatic I was. Books make me far too happy and these were great ones.
Lololol Those people at the 10 a.m. show have no idea what they missed.
Mingling with Humber's finest was a far cry from Wednesday's happenings. My only class on Wednesday starts at 3:30 p.m., so I decided to work on a project. I went to a breakfast for people who don't have the money to afford food at a local church. I thought I'd see maybe a few people eating their meals, but was surprised to discover there was a basement full of people in need. They looked like everyday people who probably take the bus with me or walk past me on the streets. We've been taught that homeless people all have addictions and clothing with rips and tears. For some reason, I pictured dirty men covered in facial hair. THIS is why I'm doing the assignment. Some of the less fortunate people that come to the breakfast are struggling single mothers, men who've been through bad divorces, people struggling with mental illness, people who've been laid off and people who've come from abuse and broken homes.
Because I was in journalism, equipped with a recorder and a camera in a bag, most of the people didn't want to talk with me. It turned out working for me when one man told me his story of success. He lived on the streets for many, many years, broken by addiction and mental illness. Somehow, he was able to study up on mental illness and overcame it to run for office in the area, write a book and now teach students at various colleges and universities. He still goes back to help others.
The other man encountered financial troubles after a divorce. He went from making $6000 a month to eating free breakfasts out of necessity. He also goes back to help now.
It made me sad to see so many people afraid of what I could do to them. Journalism has such a bad rep, but it's for a good reason. So many would sell their own mother out for a front page story. I'm just not willing to do that... I'll be writing the classifieds for life now, won't I?
My family has decided to volunteer with the organization now and donate clothing to them.
On Thursday, my group for an assignment decided to go film Make-a-Wish's attempt at the Guinness World Record for the largest human star. We found out it was at Don Mills - an outdoor mall - on the first snowfall of the season. I wore my winter jacket, a scarf and gloves and I was still freezing. We started filming and wanted to get it over with. We soon found out that our camera batteries did too.
When it gets cold, batteries die quick deaths. We went from having completely full batteries to having two empty batteries in minutes. We shoved those freezing batteries in between our scarves and necks and we put them in our mittens and pockets to no avail. They regained a bar or two, but those quickly disappeared. We had no choice but to accept defeat. We're finding something indoors instead. Curse you, school cameras.
2011-11-11
Et Cetera
I got the last story published that I needed to pass my class! READ IT HERE
Of course, I'll still try to write stories for future issues of the paper, but this was a weight off my shoulders. This week's story has fallen through, so I'm so happy everything I do from now on is extra.
I don't feel as stressed and I have time to work on my many assignments, due in a few weeks. The stress will return when the due dates approach. Can't wait.
Speaking of which, do any homeless people just happen to be reading my blog.. on the internet.. for which they obviously have a computer?
Of course, I'll still try to write stories for future issues of the paper, but this was a weight off my shoulders. This week's story has fallen through, so I'm so happy everything I do from now on is extra.
I don't feel as stressed and I have time to work on my many assignments, due in a few weeks. The stress will return when the due dates approach. Can't wait.
Speaking of which, do any homeless people just happen to be reading my blog.. on the internet.. for which they obviously have a computer?
2011-11-10
TTC travels
Last Friday, I trekked into Toronto for a TV Broadcast assignment. The TTC is just a whole 'nother level of transit insanity. I should definitely use it more often.
While getting onto a streetcar at Union Station, a class-load of small children got off the vehicle. What crazy teacher thinks "Hm.. I'm going to put the bajillions of small people I look after on a busy streetcar in downtown Toronto. Great idea!"
I would jump off a roof if someone tried to involve me in a plan like that. It doesn't help that young kids are often about as crazy and easy to distract as five hyperactive chihuahuas. And these children weren't even on leashes! In downtown Toronto! Surrounded by people and big, shiny lights!
The moral of this story is that elementary school teachers should be required to undergo psychological testing.
On the subway home, a man came up to my project partner and me. I had seen him approaching others on the subway car, so I knew what he was up to. He had messy dreadlocks, a visibly dirty hoody and a dazed look on his face. I didn't even dare look at his pants or shoes.
He held out a cup and said something to the extent of "Yo, you have change?" Of course, we didn't. I don't mind helping homeless people, but I don't even have a job right now and I'd rather help a charity that will help them for me instead.
This man looked off, but his smell was also hard to bear. There is no exaggeration here when I say the man smelled like he had never even seen a shower on TV, let alone set foot in one. As my partner put it "Oh my God. He smells like 5000 armpits."
Fine. Block your nose for a minute and move on. Nope.
He went to the man across the aisle and asked him the same question. Some change was dropped into the cup. What happens next? The man asked for $50 to get to Ottawa... Uh... What?
I will take you to a store, buy you a bar of soap and pay for you to get into a public pool shower room. Let's do this thing.
After he walked back to the other side of the subway car, his stench lingered. It stayed in the air for THE ENTIRE RIDE BACK. We got off at least four or five stops after this man approached us and he exited a few stops before we did. When I think about it, the smell comes back to my nose. It was one of those horrific, life-changing experiences that will never go away. I shall forever be haunted.
While getting onto a streetcar at Union Station, a class-load of small children got off the vehicle. What crazy teacher thinks "Hm.. I'm going to put the bajillions of small people I look after on a busy streetcar in downtown Toronto. Great idea!"
I would jump off a roof if someone tried to involve me in a plan like that. It doesn't help that young kids are often about as crazy and easy to distract as five hyperactive chihuahuas. And these children weren't even on leashes! In downtown Toronto! Surrounded by people and big, shiny lights!
The moral of this story is that elementary school teachers should be required to undergo psychological testing.
On the subway home, a man came up to my project partner and me. I had seen him approaching others on the subway car, so I knew what he was up to. He had messy dreadlocks, a visibly dirty hoody and a dazed look on his face. I didn't even dare look at his pants or shoes.
He held out a cup and said something to the extent of "Yo, you have change?" Of course, we didn't. I don't mind helping homeless people, but I don't even have a job right now and I'd rather help a charity that will help them for me instead.
This man looked off, but his smell was also hard to bear. There is no exaggeration here when I say the man smelled like he had never even seen a shower on TV, let alone set foot in one. As my partner put it "Oh my God. He smells like 5000 armpits."
Fine. Block your nose for a minute and move on. Nope.
He went to the man across the aisle and asked him the same question. Some change was dropped into the cup. What happens next? The man asked for $50 to get to Ottawa... Uh... What?
I will take you to a store, buy you a bar of soap and pay for you to get into a public pool shower room. Let's do this thing.
After he walked back to the other side of the subway car, his stench lingered. It stayed in the air for THE ENTIRE RIDE BACK. We got off at least four or five stops after this man approached us and he exited a few stops before we did. When I think about it, the smell comes back to my nose. It was one of those horrific, life-changing experiences that will never go away. I shall forever be haunted.
2011-11-04
Catchin' Some Zeds
Sleeping on the bus is almost inevitable for me these days. With my busy journalism schedule, I often go to sleep late, toss in bed thinking about interviews and deadlines and wake up early (I'm talking 5 a.m. early).
I have a habit of slumping forward or resting my head on my fist with my elbow on the tiny window ledge. I conk out without even trying and I always seem to wake up to find a new group of people surrounding me. It's a really weird feeling.
Once, I fell asleep while resting on my hand. I was pretty comfy until I heard people talking around me. I started to stir and opened my eyes to see a standing man reaching out to poke me. I took one of my earbuds out of my ear to hear what he wanted. He asked me if I could open the window and it was a pretty cold day. Sure, strange bus man; I'll just stand up to open a window above me for your... comfort? These two huge bags on my lap won't stop me from standing up in a full bus. No worries.
I told him I couldn't stand up and he said it was alright. He got off at the next stop... Whhaaattt? Why did you want me to open the window?! You make no sense, strange bus man.
When I was going home, a male around my age sat down beside me. Not long into the ride, I fell asleep. Instead of leaning against the window ledge, I slumped forward over my bags. I don't know what woke me up, but I opened my eyes to find the guy beside me fast asleep, leaning over into my area. Because I was moved forward, we didn't touch. I'm still going to tell people I slept with a stranger on a crowded bus for the shock factor.
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