http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/washington/27prexy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
This article is about the Israel-Palestenian peace talks and Bush's intervention.
I love Bush's quote: "The United States cannot impose our vision."
The article discusses the planned discussions over the next week or so and is kind of dry. I just liked his quote.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Television rules the nation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNzyrvq08ok
There are two great parts in this video. The first scene with the reporter and about half way through when the model "gets her face put on." I keep thinking about this song by Daft Punk and the video and how TV distracts and distorts us from the truth. Unfortunately when most people think of journalism, they think of the nightly local news. Even my parents still watch the news, and I yell at them every time I come home and catch them doing it. They, like everyone else, watch it for entertainment. It is like watching CSI or any other action/crime show during prime time, but people see the news and believe that what is shown is important and IS an issue. We're distracted by car crashes and local bake sales while we're kept in a state of fear by murderers escaped from jail and "terrorists" filling postage with anthrax. My favorite part about Good Night and Good Luck was Murrow's opening speech about television being the opiate of the masses.
There are two great parts in this video. The first scene with the reporter and about half way through when the model "gets her face put on." I keep thinking about this song by Daft Punk and the video and how TV distracts and distorts us from the truth. Unfortunately when most people think of journalism, they think of the nightly local news. Even my parents still watch the news, and I yell at them every time I come home and catch them doing it. They, like everyone else, watch it for entertainment. It is like watching CSI or any other action/crime show during prime time, but people see the news and believe that what is shown is important and IS an issue. We're distracted by car crashes and local bake sales while we're kept in a state of fear by murderers escaped from jail and "terrorists" filling postage with anthrax. My favorite part about Good Night and Good Luck was Murrow's opening speech about television being the opiate of the masses.
Monday, November 19, 2007
2 scenes of the Whitaker
Kennett Peterson
2 scenes of the Whitaker
A big, dark brown barn style house overlooks a lush yard in the Whitaker neighborhood on Madison Street in Eugene. The two-story house is filled with large windows, through which potted plants inside suck in sunlight. In front of the house lies a vegetable garden so massive, it takes up the entire front yard. A concrete path runs in and around the vegetable garden to a white front door, newly painted. The neighbor’s fat white and orange cat meanders through the garden and across the path to the side of the house, which is wrapped in grape vines. The cat sniffs something on the ground and disappears behind a wooden castle fortress, designed for the homeowner’s kids to play in. The scene’s backdrop is a tree and house filled skyline, and while currently the house is bathed in sunlight, a dark, ominous rain cloud is approaching from the west.
If you were to turn around 90 degrees to the south, a different picture would stand before you. The wet street, void of cars but full of decomposing brown and yellow leaves, goes straight off into the distance to the base of a tall, ugly cement structure. The structure is a factory, with a few broken, dirty windows scattered around on its smooth gray surface. It is multiple stories high, and is the only thing in view that breaks the natural skyline of trees. On top of the factory sits a mess of tangled pipes and vents, spewing steam and smoke into the sky. The yellow pipes surround an American flag, as if mimicking the domination that corporate America has on the 50 states. Temporarily, the factory sits under a blue patch of sky, sun shining down on it as if blessed. But to the west, like the barn house, a dark black mountain of rain clouds are moving in quickly. A drop of rain comes down to the earth.
2 scenes of the Whitaker
A big, dark brown barn style house overlooks a lush yard in the Whitaker neighborhood on Madison Street in Eugene. The two-story house is filled with large windows, through which potted plants inside suck in sunlight. In front of the house lies a vegetable garden so massive, it takes up the entire front yard. A concrete path runs in and around the vegetable garden to a white front door, newly painted. The neighbor’s fat white and orange cat meanders through the garden and across the path to the side of the house, which is wrapped in grape vines. The cat sniffs something on the ground and disappears behind a wooden castle fortress, designed for the homeowner’s kids to play in. The scene’s backdrop is a tree and house filled skyline, and while currently the house is bathed in sunlight, a dark, ominous rain cloud is approaching from the west.
If you were to turn around 90 degrees to the south, a different picture would stand before you. The wet street, void of cars but full of decomposing brown and yellow leaves, goes straight off into the distance to the base of a tall, ugly cement structure. The structure is a factory, with a few broken, dirty windows scattered around on its smooth gray surface. It is multiple stories high, and is the only thing in view that breaks the natural skyline of trees. On top of the factory sits a mess of tangled pipes and vents, spewing steam and smoke into the sky. The yellow pipes surround an American flag, as if mimicking the domination that corporate America has on the 50 states. Temporarily, the factory sits under a blue patch of sky, sun shining down on it as if blessed. But to the west, like the barn house, a dark black mountain of rain clouds are moving in quickly. A drop of rain comes down to the earth.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
More Iraq stuff
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/middleeast/14blackwater.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
This is another article about Blackwater security. Finally, at first glance, it looks like the company might be held responsible for some of their murders. But, it turns out that whatever legislation gets passed (and it still has to go through senate) that law won't be applied to the shootings on sept. 16th and before. The FBI has confirmed that the shootings were unjust and unnecessary, and yet the "guards" walk free. They are protected by lawyers and a government that doesn't care about casualties of oil. Today I read an opinion article in the Emerald by Nik Antovich titled, "Enjoy freedom? Thank the United States Armed Forces." First of all, who in their right mind spells Nick without a "c?" Seriously, come on. I read the title and prepared myself to be disgusted, and I wasn't let down. I could only read about half of it until I was just too pissed to read anymore. Nik pulled out all the stops; he compared Hitler to Sadam, said that we were in Iraq for just causes, and that war accomplishes great things: like ending slavery. This is my favorite quote from his article: "When reflecting on the wars America has participated in, the first thought that comes to mind is: America is not much of an antagonist, more a reactive country concerning warfare." Later on he goes to say, "Wars have predominately been initiated by irrational leaders."
I think that as long as people continue to believe this crap about being heroes bringing freedom to the savages, while we continue to get away with murder in Iraq, journalism has failed.
This is another article about Blackwater security. Finally, at first glance, it looks like the company might be held responsible for some of their murders. But, it turns out that whatever legislation gets passed (and it still has to go through senate) that law won't be applied to the shootings on sept. 16th and before. The FBI has confirmed that the shootings were unjust and unnecessary, and yet the "guards" walk free. They are protected by lawyers and a government that doesn't care about casualties of oil. Today I read an opinion article in the Emerald by Nik Antovich titled, "Enjoy freedom? Thank the United States Armed Forces." First of all, who in their right mind spells Nick without a "c?" Seriously, come on. I read the title and prepared myself to be disgusted, and I wasn't let down. I could only read about half of it until I was just too pissed to read anymore. Nik pulled out all the stops; he compared Hitler to Sadam, said that we were in Iraq for just causes, and that war accomplishes great things: like ending slavery. This is my favorite quote from his article: "When reflecting on the wars America has participated in, the first thought that comes to mind is: America is not much of an antagonist, more a reactive country concerning warfare." Later on he goes to say, "Wars have predominately been initiated by irrational leaders."
I think that as long as people continue to believe this crap about being heroes bringing freedom to the savages, while we continue to get away with murder in Iraq, journalism has failed.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
polluting athletes' lungs
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-08/ff_pollution
Beijing, the chosen grounds for the summer 2008 olympics, is filled with smog and pollution. It isn't uncommon for the air to be so polluted that citizens are warned not to go outside without face masks. The very young and old are warned of going outside into the smog even with masks. This article sums up the problem: Beijing was chosen under the pretense that it would change its ways and become an ecological city. yeah right. A few of the new stadiums and facilities employ green energy systems: rain-catching systems and solar panels, but it's all just for show. As skyscrapers go up on every street corner and thousands of cars are put on the street everyday, carbon emissions are continuing to skyrocket. What a terrible place for the olympics. It may have been a good idea in 2002, when Beijing was decided to be the location. Who knows, maybe it could have sparked an interest in the people and government there to change their ways (not that it would have changed ours) but it didn't. It failed, and now thousands of athletes are going to be running, cycling, and swimming in pollution. I guess we had better get used to the idea of breathing in smog, most "liberal" and "green" people I know aren't willing to make any changes in their lives either. Driving a car is too convenient and remembering to turn the house lights off is too much of an inconvenience.
Beijing, the chosen grounds for the summer 2008 olympics, is filled with smog and pollution. It isn't uncommon for the air to be so polluted that citizens are warned not to go outside without face masks. The very young and old are warned of going outside into the smog even with masks. This article sums up the problem: Beijing was chosen under the pretense that it would change its ways and become an ecological city. yeah right. A few of the new stadiums and facilities employ green energy systems: rain-catching systems and solar panels, but it's all just for show. As skyscrapers go up on every street corner and thousands of cars are put on the street everyday, carbon emissions are continuing to skyrocket. What a terrible place for the olympics. It may have been a good idea in 2002, when Beijing was decided to be the location. Who knows, maybe it could have sparked an interest in the people and government there to change their ways (not that it would have changed ours) but it didn't. It failed, and now thousands of athletes are going to be running, cycling, and swimming in pollution. I guess we had better get used to the idea of breathing in smog, most "liberal" and "green" people I know aren't willing to make any changes in their lives either. Driving a car is too convenient and remembering to turn the house lights off is too much of an inconvenience.
1.2 million murdered
http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78
This isn't a new article, but I came across it while searching for the number of Iraqi casualties. I was and still am shocked at the number. I thought the number killed was reaching 1 million, maybe 800 or 900 thousand. According to this study, the number may be even higher, at 1.4 million. I think it is inhuman when US media only covers US deaths. What is 3 or 4 thousand compared to this?
This isn't a new article, but I came across it while searching for the number of Iraqi casualties. I was and still am shocked at the number. I thought the number killed was reaching 1 million, maybe 800 or 900 thousand. According to this study, the number may be even higher, at 1.4 million. I think it is inhuman when US media only covers US deaths. What is 3 or 4 thousand compared to this?
stressed out students
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/education/29stress.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The principle of Needham High School, Paul Richards, has been getting heat in the form of hate mail and mockery for trying to reduce the stress of his students. After four Needham students committed suicide, the school district began its search for reducing stress. The Stress Reduction Committee isn't lowering expectations for students, it is finding healthy, realistic opportunities and goals for students to aim for. Instead of packing on an unhealthy schedule of strictly AP classes, sports teams, and student groups, the committee is aiming to reduce the workload of struggling students. The school isn't publishing where seniors are going to college in the yearbook because it has caused students in the past to lie, ashamed at the state schools they were about to attend. Yoga and relaxation classes are being taught as well.
The principle of Needham High School, Paul Richards, has been getting heat in the form of hate mail and mockery for trying to reduce the stress of his students. After four Needham students committed suicide, the school district began its search for reducing stress. The Stress Reduction Committee isn't lowering expectations for students, it is finding healthy, realistic opportunities and goals for students to aim for. Instead of packing on an unhealthy schedule of strictly AP classes, sports teams, and student groups, the committee is aiming to reduce the workload of struggling students. The school isn't publishing where seniors are going to college in the yearbook because it has caused students in the past to lie, ashamed at the state schools they were about to attend. Yoga and relaxation classes are being taught as well.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Suicide
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/world/asia/14china.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world
This story is a perfect example of how we are killing ourselves and the planet in order to make a quick buck. China's huge Lake Tai has become so polluted from the chemical factories surrounding it that the 2 million local inhabitants can no longer drink from it, which is there main water source. The government, which is being controlled by corporations and money (4/5 of local tax revenue comes from chemical plants), is more focused on throwing environmentalists behind bars than solving the problem. It's easy to look at China and say "wow, what a backwards communist country," when in fact we are just as messed up as them. While we complain about them not caring about pollution or the environment, our population-which is 4.5 times smaller than China's-uses more energy. We're all killing ourselves.
kennett
This story is a perfect example of how we are killing ourselves and the planet in order to make a quick buck. China's huge Lake Tai has become so polluted from the chemical factories surrounding it that the 2 million local inhabitants can no longer drink from it, which is there main water source. The government, which is being controlled by corporations and money (4/5 of local tax revenue comes from chemical plants), is more focused on throwing environmentalists behind bars than solving the problem. It's easy to look at China and say "wow, what a backwards communist country," when in fact we are just as messed up as them. While we complain about them not caring about pollution or the environment, our population-which is 4.5 times smaller than China's-uses more energy. We're all killing ourselves.
kennett
Myanmar profits
I read this article a few weeks and saved it to write about later.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/world/asia/01cnd-asia.html?hp
While the monks of Myanmar are being thrown in jail and run over by tanks, the surrounding countries are looking away. Thailand doesn't see anything wrong with a military dictatorship beating down peaceful protesters. Especially when you consider that they wouldn't be able to see anything if they did oppose Myanmar's actions; they'd be left blind in the dark. Myanmar supplies 20% of Thailand's electricity needs with exports of natural gas.
Among other friendly neighbors that only have the best intentions for Myanmar are: China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and India. They all profit from Myanmar's hardwoods, other exports, and the market of its 50 million people. In fact, China and Russia have been so grateful of the hard working Myanmarians that they have soled them the weapons that the military government is using against its people. Russia even sold Myanmar its very own nuclear test reactor. What better way to reward such a responsible and successful government than the beginning technology to create nuclear weapons? Profit always prevails.
kennett
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/world/asia/01cnd-asia.html?hp
While the monks of Myanmar are being thrown in jail and run over by tanks, the surrounding countries are looking away. Thailand doesn't see anything wrong with a military dictatorship beating down peaceful protesters. Especially when you consider that they wouldn't be able to see anything if they did oppose Myanmar's actions; they'd be left blind in the dark. Myanmar supplies 20% of Thailand's electricity needs with exports of natural gas.
Among other friendly neighbors that only have the best intentions for Myanmar are: China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and India. They all profit from Myanmar's hardwoods, other exports, and the market of its 50 million people. In fact, China and Russia have been so grateful of the hard working Myanmarians that they have soled them the weapons that the military government is using against its people. Russia even sold Myanmar its very own nuclear test reactor. What better way to reward such a responsible and successful government than the beginning technology to create nuclear weapons? Profit always prevails.
kennett
17 innocent deaths????
All of the news about the Blackwater shootings/murders that have been going on for the past few weeks are a sign that Americans are finally getting fed up with the war. Obviously innocent people have been getting killed over the last 5 years. There aren't 900,000+ dead "terrorists" thanks to the US military. I guess US citizens are pretty stupid. Who do they think the US army/private contractors have been killing all these years? People's ignorance on this matter astounds me. In fact, most of my friends don't have a clue about how many Iraqis we've killed, or that there are even private contractors in Iraq. I have never supported the war or "supported the troops." Why would I support people who are murdering innocent people in the name of profit for oil companies and Halibuton? Although, I can't wait for all the great action movies that are sure to spring up in a few years depicting the bravery of the righteous christian Americans fighting for good against the evil of the dark-skinned heathenous terrorists. It should be good.
Giuliani
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/us/politics/15giuliani.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
I was stunned while reading this article, finding it strange that such a "liberal" newspaper would show a republican in a good light. But, just like the article describes how a city of liberals continued to vote for a republican, the liberal paper did him justice as well, painting him in a good light. Although, I felt like there might have been a hint of sarcasm in the writer's words.
Giuliani, one of the top republican candidates running for office in 2008, has been using his city, New York, as an example of how he took something evil, corrupt, and vile into something good. Crime was up, along with prostitution, porno shops, and drugs. LIke the homeless, he threw all that out of his city. Some "rural" republican candidates (if there is such a thing as a rural/farm boy presidential candidate) have been accusing him as a big city spender, too focused on the needs and wants of big cities.
I personally hope Giuliani wins the republican candidacy because I think he will do terrible in the overall election, therefore letting the democrats win.
I was stunned while reading this article, finding it strange that such a "liberal" newspaper would show a republican in a good light. But, just like the article describes how a city of liberals continued to vote for a republican, the liberal paper did him justice as well, painting him in a good light. Although, I felt like there might have been a hint of sarcasm in the writer's words.
Giuliani, one of the top republican candidates running for office in 2008, has been using his city, New York, as an example of how he took something evil, corrupt, and vile into something good. Crime was up, along with prostitution, porno shops, and drugs. LIke the homeless, he threw all that out of his city. Some "rural" republican candidates (if there is such a thing as a rural/farm boy presidential candidate) have been accusing him as a big city spender, too focused on the needs and wants of big cities.
I personally hope Giuliani wins the republican candidacy because I think he will do terrible in the overall election, therefore letting the democrats win.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Frustration
Today I did a lot of reading for one of my journalism classes (communication theory and criticism with Carl Bybee) about how uneven our society is, economically, and how crummy our education system is. I already knew a lot of what the articles were about, but every time I read this kind of stuff I get a little more frustrated. One statistic: the richest 225 people in the world (worth $1 trillion) have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 2.5 billion people. Another statistic: 1% of the US' richest people control 40% of the nation's wealth; the next richest 19% control 45% of the wealth, and the poorest 80% of the population controls a mere 15%. Usually I don't believe statistics are great in arguments and they can almost never stand alone without explaining why they are important, but in this case they work. I was disgusted. These economic "gap-crisis" articles tied in to the education articles. The rich get the tax cuts, the poor get poorer, and the nation cuts social programs like education so that the masses can continue to dumb down. Finally the poor have nothing to look forward to but dying and going to a magical place up in the clouds. I know this has been going on for thousands of years all over the world, but it just pisses me off. What's the point of studying history when we continue to keep making the same planned "mistakes"?
After reading all this sickening information, I went to the class and Professor Bybee lectured on the monster that capitalism is and the terrors that it has inflicted on our society, sucking the life out of 99.999% of Americans, trampling the third world countries, and polluting the world. He didn't actually say that, but basically throughout the entire class I could feel my blood pressure rising. This is usually the stuff I like to talk about, things that interest me. I should feel motivated to DO something about it, but lately it has just been pissing me off to the point where I don't want to have anything to do with this damn country. Apparently Dick Cheney hasn't been getting my suggestions that I keep sending him via email.
And to top the day off (it was already a stressful day and all this political stuff just made it that much worse) I went home to read the Oregonian. After reading the 2 articles about Blackwater, the budget cuts to children's mental health care, the unsuccessful and tempered protesters calling for impeachment (and the pannzy democrats in office that don't want to upset the republicans), and the logging companies contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight measure 49 and finish turning the world into a parking lot, I decided to skip to the food section. Food always makes me happy, so I began reading about pies and I felt a whole lot better. This was also after I went into the kitchen and smashed a mug on the floor to let out some steam. This is why I don't know if I'll be able to be a good journalist. The more I learn the more angry I get. And the only "activist" thing I can think of doing in my rage is to go down W 11th and throw some rocks at Wall Mart. I see why Americans would rather read People magazine than something intelligent. Ignorance is bliss. And besides, I'm really interested to find out what Paris Hilton is up to these days...
After reading all this sickening information, I went to the class and Professor Bybee lectured on the monster that capitalism is and the terrors that it has inflicted on our society, sucking the life out of 99.999% of Americans, trampling the third world countries, and polluting the world. He didn't actually say that, but basically throughout the entire class I could feel my blood pressure rising. This is usually the stuff I like to talk about, things that interest me. I should feel motivated to DO something about it, but lately it has just been pissing me off to the point where I don't want to have anything to do with this damn country. Apparently Dick Cheney hasn't been getting my suggestions that I keep sending him via email.
And to top the day off (it was already a stressful day and all this political stuff just made it that much worse) I went home to read the Oregonian. After reading the 2 articles about Blackwater, the budget cuts to children's mental health care, the unsuccessful and tempered protesters calling for impeachment (and the pannzy democrats in office that don't want to upset the republicans), and the logging companies contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight measure 49 and finish turning the world into a parking lot, I decided to skip to the food section. Food always makes me happy, so I began reading about pies and I felt a whole lot better. This was also after I went into the kitchen and smashed a mug on the floor to let out some steam. This is why I don't know if I'll be able to be a good journalist. The more I learn the more angry I get. And the only "activist" thing I can think of doing in my rage is to go down W 11th and throw some rocks at Wall Mart. I see why Americans would rather read People magazine than something intelligent. Ignorance is bliss. And besides, I'm really interested to find out what Paris Hilton is up to these days...
Monday, October 1, 2007
$$Myanmar$$
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/world/asia/01cnd-asia.html?hp
article idea for this week.
article idea for this week.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
news writing vs magazine writing
I have found that I don't like the style of writing that is found in newspapers. The inverted pyramid style is not my strong point and I don't feel like it is a good way to spread information or tell a story, other than the convenience factor. It's like reading a book starting at the end, where the conclusion lays and where the "most important" news is. I, instead, like to read and write in a more informal, story-telling manor. Today I wrote a long email to one of my dad's old climbing buddies about a trip that my brother and I took in the sierras this summer. It is really informal, and rambly, but I really enjoyed writing it. Here it is:
It was a trip to remember. My legs were sore for 4 days afterwards. It took about 15 hours and Galen had some major blisters to speak of. And we went through more "how much would someone have to pay you to______ *fill in blank*" scenarios than I thought was possible. We both decided that not speaking a word for an entire year would indeed be impossible, and that if one of us becomes insanely rich while the other became poor and hurting for money, we are going to pay the poor one to do embarrassing and dehumanizing things such as eating poop for $453. Also, Galen is going to have a child that he locks up the closet until it’s 10 years old and the only thing he’s going to say to it is “fudge” and “Gary,” which won’t be the kid’s name. In doing this, when he sends the kid to elementary school, it will be completely crazy. Which is the point of the experiment. I, on the other hand, am going to have a child that is successful in everything, who only gets praise, never gets grounded, and never has anything go wrong in his or her life. My other child will be a reject of society: dumb, weird looking, and without social skills or friends. I will yell at the reject kid and they will slide further and further into depression and self-loathing. The point of this will be that the “good” kid will always feel good about himself and have an excess of self esteem. We came up with a lot of these scenarios while on the hike.
The hike:
We got up first at 4AM, but quickly decided to rethink our start time, opting for another 30 minutes of sleep. 30 minutes later it was still cold and the only light came from the stars and moon. We set the alarm for another 30 minutes of sleep. So by the third time the alarm went off it was 5:00 and we decided we had better get up. I lit up the stove and poured a couple cups of water into a massive quantity of oats. We ate the first batch and made a second. I barely finished my second helping and Galen refused to finish his second helping. I kept telling him that he needed to finish it and that he would be super hungry later on in the day, but I think he was on the point of vomiting from being so full. So Thomas got a midnight treat of oats.
We headed off at 5:30 with our head lamps to Ralston, which was the quickest and easiest of the 4 summits. We took turns carrying the backpack, but I ended up wearing it for most of the day. In it we brought about 6 liters of water, 8 peanut butter and jam bagel sandwiches, a big bag of pancakes, a bigger bag of trail mix, 3 protein bars, and a bag of whey protein mix. Needless to say, we didn't plan on going hungry, although we ended up eating everything except for a little bit of the whey protein and some of the trail mix. We also brought a water pump, sweat shirts, a first aid kit, map, survival blanket, knife, camera, action.
By the time it was light out, we had almost reached the summit of Ralston. It was going to be a warm, cloudless day. We put our lights away just as going noticed he was getting blisters on his feet. We stopped for a minute while he put some tape over the hot spots.
After reaching the top of Ralston, instead of heading back down the trail that we came up we decided to go cross country on the way down. It took us almost 2 hours doing this because it turned out to be very steep and the bushes were neck high and very sharp and painful. I still have a scar on my shin from the brambles.
Our plan was to on top of Pyramid Peak by 11:30, and we made it. Galen just about killed himself with effort. We went up the steep gully side near horsetail, which we decided was one of the hardest parts of the day. We were going pretty fast at this point and took only 1 break after getting up and out of the gully. We now had a clear sight to the top and started off again, passing a group of firemen from Sacramento (they were just hiking, no fireman apparel). We got to the top and talked to the firemen and had some more food (we had stopped to eat after getting down from Ralston earlier). There eyes bulged in amazement as they watched us pull out our huge pile of food, and also when we told them our plans for the day. They didn't think we could do it, but thought it sounded like an epic trip and offered some encouragement and advice on how to approach Dick's and Harry's peaks.
We headed down the steep north side of Pyramid at a little after noon and got down to a small lake that sits between Pyramid and the peak that sits just north of Pyramid, I forget the name now. There, we refilled our water bottles and took our shoes off and put our feet in the water.
After the break, which turned out to last about 30 minutes because the water pump was going very slow, we continued to head down to lake Aloha. after a long decent, we were finally there, and we started to make our way around the west side of the lake, scrambling over truck-sized boulders that overhung the lake's icy blue water. Galen fell behind and I could tell that his blood sugar was dropping, and we still had the majority of the hike ahead of us. So we stopped again to eat and fill up the water bottles when we got around to the base of Jack's.
There were two options for heading up Jack's peak: #1 was to head straight up, which would require climbing some vertical sections. This option looked to be the fastest and most fun, so we didn't even consider the other option, which was to go around the side and go up the rock scree.
It didn't take us too long to get to the top. I had gone ahead of Galen and was standing on the summit, when I realized that I was not, in fact, standing on the summit. The top was over to my right, so I climbed down the false summit and climbed over to the true summit, where Galen meet me and we ate some more sandwiches (I ate my last one). Then, after looking at the map for a few minutes, we realized we were still not on the true summit. Slightly annoyed now, we packed up our things and carefully made our way along the razor-edge rim that connected this false summit with jack's true summit. THEN we were on the top.
It was very windy up there and the sun was getting lower, we estimated we had a little less than 4 and a half hours of sunlight left. We used the hand held at an arm-length away method for estimating the time since we forgot to bring a watch. At first we decide that we didn't have time to do Dick's, but then we decide "the hell with it" and headed down the north side of Jack's to the ridge that separated the two peaks. This was probably my favorite section because of the exposure and steepness of the cliffs that we carefully straddled as we made our way to the base of Dick's.
At last we stood on top of the final peak, where we posed for many pictures and ate the last of the sandwiches and pancakes. We were down to about 2 liters of water by now, which we finished off by about 2 hours later. The trip down, back to lake aloha took a long time.
We traversed back to the top of Jack’s peak and headed down its eastern side, coming upon a snow bank, followed by an endless scree field. The scree eventually turned into boulders, and it got steeper and steeper. We stopped for a rest on a big flat boulder to eat some trail mix and drink the last of the water. When we stood back up, we both groaned as our stiff and tired legs complained at the never ending decent. It took another hour to get to the bottom, where we climbed around some huge boulders, bigger than houses. We pondered going into some caves underneath the boulders, but decided we better get back before it got dark.
Finally we were back on a trail, having been traveling off country since Ralston peak. There is something to be said for walking on flat, even ground, and we sped around the lake in 30 minutes, getting back at 8PM, just as it was getting dark, and just in time for some hot chili and chocolate pudding. Dad said that in another 15 minutes, he was going to go out looking for us, although he admitted that he didn’t have a clue where he would begin searching.
-Kennett
I would really like to start writing like this more often, and I wouldn't mind seeing more articles in the paper more like this. I think that people would get more involved in news stories if they put in more emotion. They don't have to be as informal as this, but if some more emotion were put into the Myanmar issue or the crap that we're doing in iraq, I think people would have different reactions than they do with the current media structure.
It was a trip to remember. My legs were sore for 4 days afterwards. It took about 15 hours and Galen had some major blisters to speak of. And we went through more "how much would someone have to pay you to______ *fill in blank*" scenarios than I thought was possible. We both decided that not speaking a word for an entire year would indeed be impossible, and that if one of us becomes insanely rich while the other became poor and hurting for money, we are going to pay the poor one to do embarrassing and dehumanizing things such as eating poop for $453. Also, Galen is going to have a child that he locks up the closet until it’s 10 years old and the only thing he’s going to say to it is “fudge” and “Gary,” which won’t be the kid’s name. In doing this, when he sends the kid to elementary school, it will be completely crazy. Which is the point of the experiment. I, on the other hand, am going to have a child that is successful in everything, who only gets praise, never gets grounded, and never has anything go wrong in his or her life. My other child will be a reject of society: dumb, weird looking, and without social skills or friends. I will yell at the reject kid and they will slide further and further into depression and self-loathing. The point of this will be that the “good” kid will always feel good about himself and have an excess of self esteem. We came up with a lot of these scenarios while on the hike.
The hike:
We got up first at 4AM, but quickly decided to rethink our start time, opting for another 30 minutes of sleep. 30 minutes later it was still cold and the only light came from the stars and moon. We set the alarm for another 30 minutes of sleep. So by the third time the alarm went off it was 5:00 and we decided we had better get up. I lit up the stove and poured a couple cups of water into a massive quantity of oats. We ate the first batch and made a second. I barely finished my second helping and Galen refused to finish his second helping. I kept telling him that he needed to finish it and that he would be super hungry later on in the day, but I think he was on the point of vomiting from being so full. So Thomas got a midnight treat of oats.
We headed off at 5:30 with our head lamps to Ralston, which was the quickest and easiest of the 4 summits. We took turns carrying the backpack, but I ended up wearing it for most of the day. In it we brought about 6 liters of water, 8 peanut butter and jam bagel sandwiches, a big bag of pancakes, a bigger bag of trail mix, 3 protein bars, and a bag of whey protein mix. Needless to say, we didn't plan on going hungry, although we ended up eating everything except for a little bit of the whey protein and some of the trail mix. We also brought a water pump, sweat shirts, a first aid kit, map, survival blanket, knife, camera, action.
By the time it was light out, we had almost reached the summit of Ralston. It was going to be a warm, cloudless day. We put our lights away just as going noticed he was getting blisters on his feet. We stopped for a minute while he put some tape over the hot spots.
After reaching the top of Ralston, instead of heading back down the trail that we came up we decided to go cross country on the way down. It took us almost 2 hours doing this because it turned out to be very steep and the bushes were neck high and very sharp and painful. I still have a scar on my shin from the brambles.
Our plan was to on top of Pyramid Peak by 11:30, and we made it. Galen just about killed himself with effort. We went up the steep gully side near horsetail, which we decided was one of the hardest parts of the day. We were going pretty fast at this point and took only 1 break after getting up and out of the gully. We now had a clear sight to the top and started off again, passing a group of firemen from Sacramento (they were just hiking, no fireman apparel). We got to the top and talked to the firemen and had some more food (we had stopped to eat after getting down from Ralston earlier). There eyes bulged in amazement as they watched us pull out our huge pile of food, and also when we told them our plans for the day. They didn't think we could do it, but thought it sounded like an epic trip and offered some encouragement and advice on how to approach Dick's and Harry's peaks.
We headed down the steep north side of Pyramid at a little after noon and got down to a small lake that sits between Pyramid and the peak that sits just north of Pyramid, I forget the name now. There, we refilled our water bottles and took our shoes off and put our feet in the water.
After the break, which turned out to last about 30 minutes because the water pump was going very slow, we continued to head down to lake Aloha. after a long decent, we were finally there, and we started to make our way around the west side of the lake, scrambling over truck-sized boulders that overhung the lake's icy blue water. Galen fell behind and I could tell that his blood sugar was dropping, and we still had the majority of the hike ahead of us. So we stopped again to eat and fill up the water bottles when we got around to the base of Jack's.
There were two options for heading up Jack's peak: #1 was to head straight up, which would require climbing some vertical sections. This option looked to be the fastest and most fun, so we didn't even consider the other option, which was to go around the side and go up the rock scree.
It didn't take us too long to get to the top. I had gone ahead of Galen and was standing on the summit, when I realized that I was not, in fact, standing on the summit. The top was over to my right, so I climbed down the false summit and climbed over to the true summit, where Galen meet me and we ate some more sandwiches (I ate my last one). Then, after looking at the map for a few minutes, we realized we were still not on the true summit. Slightly annoyed now, we packed up our things and carefully made our way along the razor-edge rim that connected this false summit with jack's true summit. THEN we were on the top.
It was very windy up there and the sun was getting lower, we estimated we had a little less than 4 and a half hours of sunlight left. We used the hand held at an arm-length away method for estimating the time since we forgot to bring a watch. At first we decide that we didn't have time to do Dick's, but then we decide "the hell with it" and headed down the north side of Jack's to the ridge that separated the two peaks. This was probably my favorite section because of the exposure and steepness of the cliffs that we carefully straddled as we made our way to the base of Dick's.
At last we stood on top of the final peak, where we posed for many pictures and ate the last of the sandwiches and pancakes. We were down to about 2 liters of water by now, which we finished off by about 2 hours later. The trip down, back to lake aloha took a long time.
We traversed back to the top of Jack’s peak and headed down its eastern side, coming upon a snow bank, followed by an endless scree field. The scree eventually turned into boulders, and it got steeper and steeper. We stopped for a rest on a big flat boulder to eat some trail mix and drink the last of the water. When we stood back up, we both groaned as our stiff and tired legs complained at the never ending decent. It took another hour to get to the bottom, where we climbed around some huge boulders, bigger than houses. We pondered going into some caves underneath the boulders, but decided we better get back before it got dark.
Finally we were back on a trail, having been traveling off country since Ralston peak. There is something to be said for walking on flat, even ground, and we sped around the lake in 30 minutes, getting back at 8PM, just as it was getting dark, and just in time for some hot chili and chocolate pudding. Dad said that in another 15 minutes, he was going to go out looking for us, although he admitted that he didn’t have a clue where he would begin searching.
-Kennett
I would really like to start writing like this more often, and I wouldn't mind seeing more articles in the paper more like this. I think that people would get more involved in news stories if they put in more emotion. They don't have to be as informal as this, but if some more emotion were put into the Myanmar issue or the crap that we're doing in iraq, I think people would have different reactions than they do with the current media structure.
new york times article on Myanmar
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28myanmar.html
The article discusses the tragic events that have been unfolding over the past few days in Myanmar. The thousands of protesters, frustrated with their suppressive military government and rising fuel prices, have been temporally dispersed due to automatic gunfire. Myanmar officials have declared only 9 dead, but other outside sources claim the death tole is higher. Among the dead, a Japanese journalist: Kenji Nagai. I read this and then looked up the footage on youtube, which is disturbing to watch as Nagai flops onto his back like a limp doll after being shot at point blank with an automatic rifle. He continues photographing his killer as he dies in the street. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUUQi1ooEAs
The US has discontinued doing business with Myanmar due to the violent reactions that the government has been taking towards the peaceful monks and their followers. Other nations, such as China and Japan are continuing to give financial aid and are continuing trade with the country. Outside communication, such as the Internet, are being banned by the government.
I read this article and looked up some youtube videos about it and got pretty pissed off. Then I began typing in "iraq" and "beatings" or "killings" into the search engine. I hadn't seen the terrible things that our military has been doing over there, although I have known about them. But seeing them is even more terrifying and makes me even more ashamed to be an American. I look at Myanmar and say "at least its their own country doing this to them. And at least they aren't killing their citizens by the tens or hundreds of thousands, like we are doing in Iraq." I feel like people reading and hearing about Myanmar are saying to themselves "oh, what a terrible country. That's what they get with a communist/military government." We are quick to find fault in others, but no one wants to read about hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians we have murdered in Iraq. Im tired of complaining about the war and our government, but I find myself thinking about it more and more. I would like to actually DO something about it. Goddamn it.
The article discusses the tragic events that have been unfolding over the past few days in Myanmar. The thousands of protesters, frustrated with their suppressive military government and rising fuel prices, have been temporally dispersed due to automatic gunfire. Myanmar officials have declared only 9 dead, but other outside sources claim the death tole is higher. Among the dead, a Japanese journalist: Kenji Nagai. I read this and then looked up the footage on youtube, which is disturbing to watch as Nagai flops onto his back like a limp doll after being shot at point blank with an automatic rifle. He continues photographing his killer as he dies in the street. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUUQi1ooEAs
The US has discontinued doing business with Myanmar due to the violent reactions that the government has been taking towards the peaceful monks and their followers. Other nations, such as China and Japan are continuing to give financial aid and are continuing trade with the country. Outside communication, such as the Internet, are being banned by the government.
I read this article and looked up some youtube videos about it and got pretty pissed off. Then I began typing in "iraq" and "beatings" or "killings" into the search engine. I hadn't seen the terrible things that our military has been doing over there, although I have known about them. But seeing them is even more terrifying and makes me even more ashamed to be an American. I look at Myanmar and say "at least its their own country doing this to them. And at least they aren't killing their citizens by the tens or hundreds of thousands, like we are doing in Iraq." I feel like people reading and hearing about Myanmar are saying to themselves "oh, what a terrible country. That's what they get with a communist/military government." We are quick to find fault in others, but no one wants to read about hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians we have murdered in Iraq. Im tired of complaining about the war and our government, but I find myself thinking about it more and more. I would like to actually DO something about it. Goddamn it.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Mission Statement
What I want to get out of the UofO journalism department: I want to become a more concise and accurate writer. I feel like I have a difficult time getting my thoughts turned into words that others will understand. It seems like my ideas are usualy good, but my writing tends to be unorganized and rambly, probably much like this blog post. I need to work on getting my ideas on paper to flow more smoothly. Another thing that I want to get out of the program is the ability to do research and become an expert on the subject quickly. I feel like I have improved over the years, but there is much to be learned. As a journalist, one of the goals to writing a piece is to convince the reader about whatever it is that you are writing about. I want to improve my "convincing skills," while writing and during conversations. While writing and trying to get others interested or involved in a subject, or to change their point of view, I need to focus on what other people think is important and see my argument from their eyes. These are all things that I hope to accomplish, or get better at, by the end of the year.
In five years I have no clue what I'll be doing. It may not have anything to do with journalism. Right now, I am pretty into bike racing and I am training to get onto a sponsored team. I would really love to race in Europe, or even just live in Europe. When I finish chasing the dream of being a bike racer, I would like to get into photojournalism. I have always been interested in photography, and I am taking a photojournalism class right now that I think will be very interesting. I don't really have an interest to write in a newspaper, but things always change and I wouldn't be opposed to trying it out.
In five years I have no clue what I'll be doing. It may not have anything to do with journalism. Right now, I am pretty into bike racing and I am training to get onto a sponsored team. I would really love to race in Europe, or even just live in Europe. When I finish chasing the dream of being a bike racer, I would like to get into photojournalism. I have always been interested in photography, and I am taking a photojournalism class right now that I think will be very interesting. I don't really have an interest to write in a newspaper, but things always change and I wouldn't be opposed to trying it out.
Monday, September 24, 2007
first impressions
I also have a little bit of a cold, so don't worry about it. In fact, I think I might have a sinus infection because it hasn't gone away yet and I have had it for like 3 weeks. Anyways, my first impression of the class today was good. Except, for the weird seating arrangement that occured for some reason (all the guys on one side and all the girls on the other). It felt a little like a middle school dance.
I really enjoyed the first assignment today. I hadn't done anything like that before, and I felt like it was a great way to get to know you. But, the one flaw that I saw was that our group did not work together. After the interviewing session ended, we split up and began furiously typing on our own. If you do this assignment again, you should probably have the students work alone and ask their own questions, either that or give the groups 10 minutes after the interview to let them discuss their notes before writing.
Wow, when you said you were a photographer for Climbing, I was shocked. That is exactly what I wanted to do when I first came to the UO. I used to really be into climbing and I wanted to write for them and travel around and climb. I bet it was awesome.
It sounds like it's going to be a fun class.
kennett
I really enjoyed the first assignment today. I hadn't done anything like that before, and I felt like it was a great way to get to know you. But, the one flaw that I saw was that our group did not work together. After the interviewing session ended, we split up and began furiously typing on our own. If you do this assignment again, you should probably have the students work alone and ask their own questions, either that or give the groups 10 minutes after the interview to let them discuss their notes before writing.
Wow, when you said you were a photographer for Climbing, I was shocked. That is exactly what I wanted to do when I first came to the UO. I used to really be into climbing and I wanted to write for them and travel around and climb. I bet it was awesome.
It sounds like it's going to be a fun class.
kennett
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