The History of Halloween!

Halloween had its origin in the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. In Gaelic culture it was a celebration of the end of the harvest season. They believed that on October 31 there were no boundary between the alive and dead. They thought the dead made people sick and damaged crops. During the festivals they had bonfires where they threw bones of livestock. Masks were worn at the festivals to act like the evil spirits. Today on Halloween the average consumer spends $38.11 on a Halloween costume.

What makes a good biography?

A good biography is one that keeps people interested. There should be lots a pictures and interviews. I think interviews make the biography more interesting and a better way to learn more about a person. A biography is more interesting when it focuses on big events rather than small unimportant events or details.

Its Monday!

On Friday I went to the movies and watched Saw 5. I haven't seen any of the other saws. It wasn't very scary but it was still good. It was very mysterious and unpredictable.

Who is Robert Swan?

Robert Swan has led expeditions to Antarctica. His goal is to educate and spread the word about global warming. He wants the group of travelers with him to witness first hand the results of climate change. Robert is also a motivational speaker. His successes and failures give him a lot to talk about and teach about.

What I learned from Elaine McArdle

Elaine McArdle was very interesting. She said that two important things to her in journalism are being fair, and accurate. I thought it was interesting how she just wants to tell the facts and the truth. Her goal is not to make people look bad or to tell her own opinions which some bad journalists do. This taught me that as a journalist your own opinions should stay out of the story. This way every reader can develop their own opinion about the subject.

Elaine McArdle

Tomorrow Elaine McArdle, a journalist is speaking at my school. She writes for the Boston Globe, Boston Globe magazine, Harvard Law Bulletin, and others.
Some questions I have for her are.....
Why did you quit being a lawyer?
What is your favorite subject you have ever written about?
What are your goals for the future?
What advice do you have for aspiring journalists?

Why is an autobiography important?

Writing an autobiography is important to being a good journalist because you have to know yourself before you can write about other people. You should know your own opinions and ideas before writing about someone. Ana autobiography makes you a better writer and journalist.

I can't wait until the weekend. Today the weather is gross and I'm really tired. Hopefully it will rain this afternoon and field hockey will be canceled. Well at least tomorrow is Friday!

My Long Weekend

This Weekend went by so fast. Saturday I didn't do much. Sunday I had a family party. Monday I had a field hockey game. We won 1-0! Then I went out for pizza. Not much exciting happened but it was a fun weekend.

Today my media class finished watching the frontline documentary, The Merchants of Cool. This part of the documentary focused on the marketing classification for a teenage girl called a "midriff." It think it is horrible that the media sells this unrealistic image of what women should look like and how they should act. It is saying that looks are everything. I think it is even worse that people buy into this stereotype by changing themselves. Also they showed clips from MTV shows such as spring break and I thought it was pathetic how people acted just to be on the camera. Even though it might be the medias fault for starting unrealistic stereotypes it is our own fault for believing them.

My Weekend

My weekend was pretty boring. I had a field hockey game on Friday in Burlington and we won 6-0. On Saturday I had a field hockey game in Belmont and we won 2-1. Then I went to my aunt and uncles for my grandfathers birthday party.

Field hockey

Yesterday I had a field hockey game vs. Belmont. As most people from Watertown know, they are our rivals. The game started off badly when Belmont scored the first goal in the first ten minutes. Luckily we were able to catch up just before time ran out in the first half. In the second half we scored again and won the game!

Mook

In the PBS frontline documentary, The Merchants of Cool, a mook is a marketing classification. It is a classification of a male "Characterized mainly by his infantile, boorish behavior, the "mook" is a perpetual adolescent: crude, misogynistic--and very, very, angry." In Miriam online dictionary I found a different definition. It said "a foolish, insignificant, or contemptible person." I noticed that Frontline described a mook as an American male but the Miriam dictionary only said a person.
http://aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/mook
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mook