Top Stories in 2007

Currently Listening to: Radiohead, In Rainbows

Here are 2007's top 10 stories, as voted by AP members:

1. VIRGINIA TECH KILLINGS: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, who had avoided court-ordered mental health treatment despite a history of psychiatric problems, killed two fellow students in a dormitory on April 16, detoured to mail a hate-filled video of himself to NBC News, then shot dead 30 students and professors in a classroom building before killing himself. It was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

2. MORTGAGE CRISIS: A record-setting wave of mortgage foreclosures, coupled with a steep slump in the housing market, buffeted financial markets, caused multibillion-dollar losses at major banks and investment firms, and became an issue in the presidential campaign.

3. IRAQ WAR: The "surge" that sent more U.S. troops to Iraq was credited with helping reduce the overall level of violence. But thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of U.S. personnel were killed nonetheless during the year, and Iraqi political leaders struggled to make meaningful progress toward national reconciliation.

4. OIL PRICES: Oil prices soared to record highs, at one point reaching nearly $100 a barrel. The high prices, which burdened motorists and owners of oil-heated homes, nudged Congress to pass an energy bill that ordered an increase in motor vehicles' fuel efficiency.

5. CHINESE EXPORTS: An array of Chinese exports were recalled, ranging from toys with lead paint to defective tires to tainted toothpaste and food. Despite the high-profile problems, America's trade deficit with China was running at record-high levels.

6. GLOBAL WARMING: Warnings about the consequences of global warming gained intensity with new reports from scientific panels and a Nobel Prize to Al Gore for his environmental crusading that included the film "An Inconvenient Truth." Across the U.S., many state governments sought to cap emissions blamed for global warming.

7. BRIDGE COLLAPSE: An Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during the evening rush hour on Aug. 1, killing 13 people and injuring about 100. The disaster fueled concern about possible structural flaws in other bridges nationwide.

8. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: In a yearlong drama with shifting subplots, large fields in both major parties battled for support ahead of the caucuses and primaries that will decide the 2008 presidential nominees. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama led among the Democrats; some polls showed five Republicans with double-digit support.

9. IMMIGRATION DEBATE: A compromise immigration plan, backed by President Bush and Democratic leaders, collapsed in Congress due to Republican opposition. The plan would have enabled millions of illegal immigrants to move toward citizenship, while also bolstering border security. The issues remained alive in the presidential campaign.

10. IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM: Worried that the ultimate goal is a nuclear arsenal, the United States and other countries pressed Iran to halt uranium enrichment. Iran said it never had a weapons program. A U.S. intelligence report concluded there was such an effort, but it stopped in 2003.

Just missing the Top 10 were the Southern California wildfires and the resignation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general.

"In our opinion, the top story must reflect the nation's stifling problems and the inability of either the Bush administration or the Democrat-led Congress to find solutions other than bickering," he wrote on his ballot.

AP Source

In Retrospect...

Currently Listening to: Lupe Fiasco, The Cool

Reflecting from the smart writings of George Saunders.

" In the beginning there's a blank mind. Then that mind gets an idea in it, and the trouble begins, because the mind mistakes the idea for the world. Mistaking the idea for the world, the mind formulates a theory and, having formulated a theory, feels inclined to act.

Because the idea is always only an approximation of the world, whether that action will be catastrophic or beneficial depends on the distance between the idea and the world.

Mass media's job is to provide this simulacra (imitation) of the world, upon which we build our ideas. There's another name for this simulacra-building: storytelling. "
-- George Saunders

I don't know why my "ideas" are so far from reality.

From the moment of its conception, the phenomena of my ideas are based on the senses it very much derives on. However far from reality or far from the approximation of the world, I continue my attempts to understand my own ideas-- my own personal story; however complex and utterly abstract it may be.

Having ideas are almost always half true or I should say half visible, and if that half is close to reality then things usually work out. On occasion, I think the role of the mass media distorts the reality of the world by sometimes creating a story that isn't always visible or isn't always correct, and sometimes people amplify this semi-imaginary story based on those false or non-fully transparent ideas, which ultimately may have destructive consequences.


My new goal for the new year is to have ideas that are more beneficial, and to bridge the distance between "the simulacra of the world" so I can understand my own story a little clearer. I wonder if all this makes sense?

I basically took this one little concept of Saunders and applied it to my own life in his writings from The Braindead Megaphone, a book that deals with mass media communications with a comedic and creative approach.

The Death of Will Tsang

William Tsang, an undergraduate at San Francisco State University, an art enthusiast, a former cynic, a student of life and a lover of knowledge mysteriously died from unknown reasons last night on November 20th, 2008. A bit obsessive in nature, and at times overly ambitious, he lived a life full of love for his family and friends. Infused with inner conflict, he often contemplated whether he should prosper in his aspired profession or make an attempt to be a humble servant for humanity. And so he walked the earth searching for meaning, searching for knowledge, and searching for all the answers to his questions about life, by living it. He lived for 24 years, and during his final year, he lived out the personified imagination of an 18th century “adventure-seeking-voyager”. He traveled to many destinations in quest of cultural experiences and offered his support to people who needed his help. His witnessed life in Alaska, Berlin, Brazil, Paris, New Zealand, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Tokyo, and various parts of China.

He revealed an unknown passion for strange exotic women, beer, and food. He learned how to cook, draw, and play the guitar. He attached himself to the idea that life isn’t some sort of battle within oneself nor is it a struggle to solve all the problems [riddles] presented to him by the world. When his moment of clarity arrived he went home, and during his last months he surrounded himself with friends and family. He became more in tune with the melodic sounds of the world, and each conversation he had became a unique and insightful experience in itself. He spoke about his soul mate, his loves and loss’s, the future of the world, and the wonderful experiences he shared with the people in his life. When asked about the lost of her friend, Jusel Selerio described William during the last months of his life as “someone who wasn’t afraid of death or someone who feared the concept of leaving everyone he knew because his mind, for once, was clear. He was finally at peace with himself, with everyone in his life, and with the world. He was happy.” Ultimately, Will’s last year wasn’t lost in search for something invisible to the eye or lost in battle within himself, but it was spent discovering his own identity and realizing how there wasn’t a need to decide between two different professions, but in fact, those two opposing forces could essentially unite and be one. He filled his last year with love, new discoveries, new moments, and lived like a king.

...

Currently Listening to: Silversun Pickups, Lazy Eye

Drama, Frustrated, Foggy, Huddles, Curves, Sublime Harmony, Beatboxin Radio, Fatum.

A Bit Smarter; But Still No Change

Everything is changing, everyday is a new day, every breathe is a new and different breathe, and every second new information is absorbed; yet, everything hasn't really changed at all, the beginning is still far from here, and Fall Season has once again recycled itself into another set of semester classes.
As Fall Begins, I ask myself what has inspired me this year? And has that spontaneous inspiration manifested itself into something
creative and constructive, or has that inspiration simply taken shape and quickly dissolve away? What inspired me this year ranges from people to toys.

Alfred Kielwasser-- Open your mind to everything and anything and Question it. Beliefs are differnet than thoughts. Explore it because we are free to do so.

This years, Nintendo Wii- Human Movements creates a Human Interaction.

Apple iPhone- Live in a city and you have Information anywhere, anytime,

Gian of Homeroom- Explorations of Negative and Positive Spaces in Designs.

Dillon of BAVC- Selectively Framing your Shot. Use of Light.

The kids from Meker- Hustle and persistence pays off.

Way of the Peaceful Warrior: Daym.

Daft Punks Electroma: Silence is Golden.

Jumpman23 Website

As these new innovations and conversations continue to appear, nothing has yet been materialized only mere conceptions and new ideas. Its been frustrating to have ideas but not quite have the skills to make those ideas a reality. As I continue to explore the complexities of broadcast communications with multimedia web, video, and design, I'm finding that State College isn't what I had expected, and I can't wait to get out and start a career in visual communication design or whatever else that might intrigue me.

J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye

Currently Listening to: Guilty Simpson, Mans World

J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
James Dean, Bruce Lee, Jimmi Hendrix, DefJam, Casablanca all sum up to one word American Classics. Another great American Classic is Catcher in the Rye. Read this book people if you haven't. If you want to read it don't read any further. But If you don't want to read it here is a one of my favorite quotes, or more like a favorite conversation from the story.

" I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall. But, I honestly don't know what kind... This fall I think you are riding for-- it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives,were looking for something their own environment couldn't provide them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started.

Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened by human behavior. You are by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now...

Nine out of ten times they have more humility than the unscholarly thinker.

Something else an academic education will do for you. If you go along with it for any considerable distance it'll begin to give you an idea what size mind you have, what it'll fit and, maybe what it won't . After a while, you'll have an idea what kind of thoughts your particular size mind should be wearing. For one thing, it may save you an extordinary amount of time trying on ideas that don't suit you, aren't becoming to you. You'll begin to know your true measurements and dress your mind accordingly.

J.D. Salinger

Meker Photoshoot

Currently Listening to:Jern Eye, Killin It'
Been rather busy as of late. I'll blog more in depth later, but as for now, check out the video I put together for Meker Clothing ft. sounds from JernEye. I've been rather curious about the development of brands and the various strength of awareness by different audiences.

In My Own Process: I

BRUCE LEE:

I don't know what I will be writing but just simply writing whatever wants to be written. If the writing communicates and stirs something within someone, it's beautiful. If not, well, it can't be helped.

To Begin with, the article is not an easy one because it is most difficult to write about oneself, because each of us is such a complexity. It is similar to an eye that can see externally but not internally. Granted, it would be a much easier job if one happens to be the type who can indulge oneself in a manipulative game of an imaginative self. But this bothers me.

I have come to the realization that sooner or later what it really amounts to is the bare fact that even an attempt to really write something about oneself demands, first of all, an honesty toward oneself, to be able to take responsibility to be what we actually are; that is a pure human being.

Well, ever since I was a kid I have possessed within myself this instinctive urge for growth and daily expansion of my potential. It has been quite some time now since I acquired and really understood the DISTINCTION between SELF-ACTUALIZATION and this ILLUSION of SELF-IMAGE ACTUALIZATION. Through my own observations, I am convinced that an absolutely honest and direct inquiry into oneself will lead to understanding.

The truth is that life is an ever-going process, ever-renewing, and it is just meant to be "lived," but not "lived for." It is something that cannot be squeezed into a self- constructed security patterm a game of rigid control and clever manipulation. Instead, to be what I term a "quality" human being one has to be transparently real and have the courage to be what he/she is.

Yet most people are doing just the opposite; they engage in a protective daily routine of security (a kind of thumb-sucking) by seeing themselves into some sort of various self-contructed, secured routine pattern in a rigid game... In this world there are a lot of people who cannot thouch the heart of the matter but talk merely intellectually (not emotionally) about how they would do this and that. [They] talk about it, but yet nothing is either actualized or accomplished. Of Course, we have many others, and we can go into a few. Another type represents the "you should" be this, you SHOULD change that. A case of what should (a crystallized something) versus what is.

-- Bruce Lee

The legacy that Bruce Lee left behind has grown into political diplomacy. This recent statue (November 2005) was placed in Bosnia to promote equality, tolerance, and peace between the Croatians and Serbians, two different ethnic groups who have been fighting since the mid-nineties. They came together to peacefully celebrate this creation of this statue.